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Have Indian authorities complied with the Supreme Court ruling that affected people must be resettled and rehabilitated before further increases in dam height are approved? If not, how many people are still living in the submergence area without resettlement and rehabilitation?
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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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The hundreds of families affected due to submergence [after the Court judgment] in 2001, 2002, and 2003 including those affected at 80 meters [262 feet], 90 meters [295 feet], and the present height of the dam are definitely in violation of the Supreme Court order. The dam should not have gone ahead from 90 meters [295 feet] as no rehabilitation has been done.
There are 40,000 families remaining in the original villages.
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Yes, absolutely. No construction for raising the dam is undertaken till the people affected by the height to be raised are resettled and rehabilitated. As per a mechanism laid down by the Supreme Court, three independent authorities in three states headed by former High Court/ Supreme Court judges have to certify that the rehabilitation and resettlement is satisfactorily carried out, before clearance is given for raising the height of the dam by only as many meters as for which resettlement has been completed.
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The views expressed in this debate are solely those of the participants.
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