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How will relocation and compensation plans impact Narmada Valley residents who do not own the land they live on?
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Medha Patkar
Founder of the Narmada Bachao Andolan, a movement that opposes the construction of mega-dams on the Narmada River.
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S.K. Mohapatra
Managing Director of the Sardar Sarovar Narmada Nigam Ltd, the state corporation charged with building the Sardar Sarovar dam.
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At least two-thirds of the families in the hilly, adivasi [tribal] area do not have the land to cultivate in their name. These people are unfortunately considered as encroachers. The reality is that their forefathers started living there even before the governments came into existence.
The issue of land compensation -- there is no provision in the Tribunal Award, but only in the state policies of Gujarat and Maharashtra. Madhya Pradesh does not have such a provision even when it has the largest submergence and tribal population. Even the policy of Gujarat and Maharashtra differs with Gujarat offering 2 hectares [5 acres] of land to all encroachers and Maharashtra offering 2 hectares to old (before 1978) and 1 hectare [2.5 acres] to new encroachers. Getting 1 hectare or no land is a guarantee to face destitution and be compelled to take manual labor. Adivasis, who never resorted to manual labor before displacement, are pushed into it now. Horrified families at rehabilitation sites in Gujarat and Maharashtra, who have shifted years ago, face a bad plight. Some of them have returned back to their original villages, while some have not moved from their original villages. Hundreds would like to return back given a chance.
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The Gujarat policy of rehabilitation allows landless residents of any state to get at least five acres of land in an irrigated area in Gujarat. This has attracted thousands of landless affected families of Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh to settle in Gujarat. They also get 540 square feet of land for their homestead along with amenities such as school, dispensary, children's playgrounds, and financial assistance to buy agricultural implements and farm animals.
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The views expressed in this debate are solely those of the participants.
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