way from the districtt HQ Barwani. Construction of Dam has started. It envisages construction of 30 kms main canal including 5.70 km. long irrigation tunnel. After completion of can network project will irigate 13,760 hectare of land in Barwani Distt. The estimated cost of the project is 360.37 crores. The dam will have a full reservoir level( FRL) of 298m and a maximum water level( MWL) of 298.6m. The length of the right bank main canal will be 41.4 km and the distributary on the left will be 8 kms long. The command area of the Project lies in 51 villages of Rajpur, Badwani and Thikri tehsils of district Badwani. The area proposed to be irrigated is 13,760 ha.( CCA of 17,265 ha.) with annual irrigation going upto 17,888 ha. The command of the Goi dam is the sub-basin of the Deb and Nahali rivers. The Project is also intended to serve the domestic consumption of Rajpur town. According to the Detailed Project Report( Nov. 1991) submergence due to the Goi reservoir will be 1090 ha. in 9 villages of which 506 ha. is cultivable land. As per the DPR, 409 families will be affected by Project. All the affected families are Bhilala tribals. In 1972, the anticipated Project cost was Rs. 678 lakhs. The status of the Project is that it has gone for clearance to the Ministry of Environment and Forests( MoEF), Planning Commission, Central Water Commission and for administrative approval from the state government. The submergence zone is almost entirely tribal comprising of Bhil and Bhilala populations. We also know that today the submergence zone is intensively irrigated. For example, village South Panchpula alone has 95 irrigation pumps. Clearly, although ritual mouthing of rehabilitation principles has taken place, there is no planning or provision for land based rehabilitation. Even the cash compensation is so minuscule, that the affected families can never hope to purchase land or replace their assets. 530 ha. of land will be submerged under the canals of the Lower Goi dam. These lands too will be merely acquired and compensated for in cash. The Rehabilitation Policy of the GoMP for the oustees of the Narmada Projects clearly states that any family whose land( over 25 %) or livelihood is required for the Project for any purpose will be regarded as a Project Affected Family( PAF) with full entitlements. Yet even the accounting for populations and categories who are entitled to rehabilitation has not taken place, let alone complete rehabilitation plan!
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Integrated River Basin Management Society