capacity in India is only 209 m 3 which is human rights and displacement of many
much below compared to country like poor and underprivileged communities.
Australia, Brazil, South Africa, even Egypt . They also believe that water and energy can
A number of research work shows that even be provided to the people of the Narmada
on purely technical grounds, large dams Valley, Gujarat and other regions through
have been colossal failures. While they have alternative
delivered only a fraction of their purposed processes which can be just socially and
benefits, they have had an extremely economically and environmentally.
devastating effect on the riverine ecosystem Narmada Banchao Andolan turned out to be
and have rendered destitute large numbers of one of the most powerful mass movements,
people. For no large dam in India, it has started in 1985, against the construction of
been shown that the resettled people have these dams on Narmada. Narmada is one of
been provided with just compensation and the largest river in peninsular India, supports
rehabilitation. a large number of people with distinct
In Narmada River the Government's plan is culture and tradition ranging from the
to build 30 large, 135 medium and 3000 indigenous (tribal) people inhabited in the
small dams to harness the waters of it and its jungles here to the large number of rural
tributaries which will produce 1450 MW of population. The proposed Sardar Sarovar
electricity and pure drinking water to 40 Dam and Narmada Sagar will displace more
million people covering thousand of villages than 250,000 rural poor. The major dispute
and towns which are desperately required is over the resettlement or the rehabilitation
for the purposes of development. But the of these people. The two proposals are
basic assumption of the Narmada Valley already under construction, supported by
Development Plan was questioned and the US$550 million loan by the World Bank.
opponents show that the planning is unjust There are plans to build over 3000 big and
and iniquitous and the cost-benefit analysis small dams along the river. In this multi
is grossly inflated in favor of building the crore
dams. the Government will be generated. Some of the
assumptions of the plans are untrue and dams have been already been completed
unfounded in terms of hydrology and such as Tawa and Bargi Dams. But the
seismicity of the area. It also shows that the opponents say that this project will devastate
construction is causing large scale abuse of human lives and bio diversity by destroying
It
has
been
shown
that
technologies
project
big
and
revenue
planning
for
the
5
Integrated River Basin Management Society