Below is yet another shameful incident in India's fanaticism with doing developmental works based on completely wrong notions of development:
From: napmindia
Date: 27 April 2013 11:38
Subject: Action Alert: Repression in Narmada Canal Villages - Act Fast
To:
Date: 27th April, 2013
A
Public Servant Tells this to People in a Democracy.
Let
Him Know What You Think About It. CALL, SMS Mob: 09425790303
“I
have not come here for any dialogue with any of you (villagers) or
the activists. Canal construction must be completed by 15th
June, at any cost. The work will go on with police force,
arresting your family, women and children as well if canal work is
questioned.If any of you have problems, come to meet me at 10 p.m.
or 2 p.m. in the mid-night at the police station. Contractors need
not be worried about anything. Take my number, SDM’s number
directly, if canal work is questioned. I am the law”
Mr.
Shriman Sahukla,
Collector,
District Badwani
|
Friends,
The
events at Village Nandra, last month, must be fresh in your mind,
where the farmers valiantly questioning the Omkareshwar canal work in
violation of all environmental norms and rehabilitation
were
arrested, false case foisted and forcible excavation undertaken, by
destroying standing crop. Your support is once again urgently
needed, this time by the adivasis and farmers from other villages
including Mandil, Mundla, Khadkal (Rajpur Tehsil, Badwani Dist) and
Malangaon, Karoli, Chhota Barda etc. (Tehsil Manavar, Dist. Dhar),
who are facing the repression of the BJP-led Madhya Pradesh Govt,
which is pushing ahead the canal work in
violation of all norms on agricultural safeguards, environmental
compliance and rehabilitation.
The
Collector, Badwani with the BJP
leaders and local MLA went to some of the adivasi villages Mandil,
Mundla, in the Rajpur Tehsil yesterday (villages
which MoEF Expert Committee had visited last year and issued
recommendations),
purportedly for inspection, but virtually had no
meaningful dialogue with the poor adivasi-farmers and instead
resorted to most vulgar abuse of the adivasis and unjustifiable
threats given to the people and activists.
“I
have not come here for any dialogue with any of you (villagers) or
the activists. Canal construction must be completed by 15th
June, at any cost. The work will go on with police force,
arresting your family, women and children as well if canal work is
questioned.If any of you have problems, come to meet me at 10 p.m.
or 2 p.m. in the mid-night at the police station. Contractors need
not be worried about anything. Take my number, SDM’s number
directly, if canal work is questioned. I am the law”
Mr.
Shriman Sahukla,
Collector,
District Badwani
|
The
Collector was in no mood to listen to any of the issues raised by the
people and was only harping on canal construction at any cost. The
issue is not just of canals, but the absolutely arrogant and
repressive attitude of the Collector and the ‘people’s
representatives, which is being questioned by the adivasis and
farmers in the notified scheduled area.
The
Collector in the presence of BJP leaders, contractors, enginners and
NVDA officials virtually threatened the adivasis-farmers that no
questioning of any sort with be tolerated. All this happened when the
people were trying to tell them that while the canal has been dug
many years ago, rest of the lands are also affected either by huge
rubble deposited on un-acquired potions of land, severe water
logging, 60% land oustees not provided alternative cultivable land
etc. None of these issues were seriously heard or considered by
the Collector and the politicians, including the local MLA,Mr.
Devisingh Patel, who threatened the adivasis and insulted them,
abusing them and the activist with most vulgar words, calling us
‘foreign agents! This situation of repression is similar in
Malangaon, Karoli, Nandra and other villages and people are having to
question this with the Expert Committee’s report in their hands.
This
approach is despite the fact that even the most recent MoEF
Expert Committee’s 2nd Field Visit Report
has concluded huge gaps in Narmada canal planning and work. The
Expert Committee after visit to the villages in January, 2012 and
February 2013 recommended that farmers who have faced impacts of muck
disposal or destruction of un-acquired land must be compensated, 60%
land oustees not provided alternative cultivable land, on-farm
safeguard measures must be completed before canal work, canals should
not be pushed in irrigated villages at a distance of 3 kms from
Narmada etc. The Collctor and politicians
did not care to listen to any of these.
The
Expert Committee’s recommendation that the administration and NVDA
must have dialogue with NBA and the farmers is being compleley
flouted and the Collector himself has taken an extremely arrogant
position that ‘no dialogue with NBA and the farmers’ will be
tolerated. In this
situation of complete repression and arrogance of the ruling party
and the district / state administration, we
request you to intervene most imemdiately since the excavation in
complete disregard of all law and environmetal sagfegaurds may start
anytime from today morning at Mandil and other villages.
DEMAND:
- Immediate implementation of all the recommendations of the MoEF Expert Monitoring Committee and execution of command area and farm safeguard measures before any canal construction and mitigation of health impacts.
- Annual compensation for muck disposal on un-acquired land, destruction of standing crop due to water logging and alternative land based rehabilitation to farmers losing more than 60% land
- Demand review of canals in irrigated villages and detailed consultation with farmers
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