The movement's concerns are genuine. Further I wonder whether after all the dams of the visualized Narmada master plan are built whether any water will be left for Gujarat government's dream project of Kalpasar reservoir across the Gulf of Khambhat. Instead of one gigatic dam it may be better to reduce risks and social costs by building distributed smaller dams for the equivalent storage capacity.
RE:Narmada protests
by Saiprasad on Apr 17, 2006 02:50 PM Permalink
I have no doubts about Ms. Patkar's good intensions. But her effort is in wrong place and direction. I lived in those parts of Saurashtra where there is acute shortage of drinking water. Ms. Patkar should have started a movement in those areas of Gujarat and Rajasthan to build check dams and other means, which she says, is solution to water problem. If their drinking problem is not sorted out they have to leave everything and migrate in few years. If she would have been successful in solving a larger number of people's problem, then there was no necessity to build/ rise height of Narmada Dam, which is her aim. She could have achieved it. I see readers talking about corruption as the reason for building Dams. I do not rule out the fact that corruptions exist in such projects. However, to say that is the reason for building the dam is laughable. Also, one should note that so many people lost their land and houses in all projects including Golden quadrilateral project. If everyone sit in hunger strikes we would been living in Stone Age.
