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Modi meets PM,discusses Gujaratis in Australia and Narmada dam Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi today met Indian Prime Minister Shri Manmohan Singh in Delhi. Talking to reporters after his meeting with the Prime Minister, Shri Modi said he talked with the Prime Minister about erection of gates on Narmada dam. The construction work of the Sardar Sarovar Narmada dam is over. Now only gates are to be erected for completion of the project. Modi also discussed situation of Gujarati students in Australia with the Prime Minister. “Many of the Indian students in Australia are from Gujarat. I have requested that a team should visit Gujarat and talk with worrying guardians and parents of Australia based Gujarati students,” said Modi. When asked about BJP’s defeat and Jaswantsingh’s allegations, Modi remained silent and walked away from to leave the talk. you can read this news at : http://deshgujarat.com/2009/06/12/modi-meets-the-prime-minister-and-australian-high-commissioner/ also. Narmada Dam to reach 121.82 mts by Dec-end :: ZEE NEWS Kevadiya (Gujarat), Aug 31: The work of raising the height of Naramda Dam to 121.82 meters is expected to be completed by December-end, officials said here today. The work of raising the dam height from the present 119 meters to 121.82 meters is expected to begin in the second week of October at Kevadiya Colony in Narmada district, said P M Patel, chief engineer of the project. "Monsoon is expected to recede in the state by September-end following which we are likely to begin the incomplete work of raising the dam's height to 121.82 meters," he told reporters at the dam site. He said the Narmada Tribunal, in its last order, had permitted raising the dam height but the work was stopped at 119 meters last month following the onset of monsoon. "We will require three more months to raise the height of the dam to 121.82 meter and the work is likely to be completed by the December-end this year." The dam, with a height of 1.5 km and a length of 215 kms can at present store 5,300 million cubic meters of water and can satisfy drinking water needs of the entire population of the state for one year, the official remarked. Meanwhile, six hydro power plants of 200 mw each have been commissioned at the underground dam station, while five hydro plants of 50 mw each have been commissioned at the surface station, he said. The electricity generated from these power stations is shared by Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Rajasthan besides Gujarat. Bureau Report Narmada water to reach Rajasthan by June-end: Laheri 9/5/06 Ahmedabad, May 09: The work on the Narmada main canal is in its last phase and the water from river Narmada will reach Rajasthan by June-end, Chairman of the Sardar Sarovar Nigam Limited (SSNL) P K Laheri today said. "The work on 457-kilometre long main canal has entered its last phase in Banaskanta district of north Gujarat. The work is currently in full swing and the water from Narmada will reach Rajasthan by June-end," an official release quoting Laheri said here today. http://www.zeenews.com/znnew/articles.asp?rep=2&aid=294006&sid=REG SC declines to stay Narmada dam construction IANS 8/6/2006 NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court Monday declined to stay the ongoing construction work of the controversial Sardar Sarovar dam in Gujarat and asked the prime minister to take a decision on the basis of a review group's forthcoming report. A three-judge bench comprising Chief Justice Y.K. Sabharwal, Justice K.G. Balakrishnan and Justice S.B. Sinha said that there was a serious dispute about the relief and rehabilitation (R&R) of the oustees in terms of the Narmada Tribunal award and the decisions of this court. MORE AT http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/1521180.cms NCCL appeals to Aamir to withdraw support to NBA A Gujarat based NGO has asked Bollywood star Aamir Khan to withdraw his support to Narmada Bachao Andolan, which is spearheading a protest against the Sardar Sarovar Project. In a letter to the actor, VK Saxena, president of National Council for Civil Liberties (NCCL) has claimed that NBA activists have allegedly being receiving financial aid for carrying out anti-dam protests and the NBA activists also have over 200 FIRs registered against them. READ MORE AT http://www.hindustantimes.com/news/181_1681154,001302250000.htm Camps to solve problems of Narmada Dam oustees: IANS, Bhopal, May 6, 2006 Those ousted by the Sardar Sarovar Project (SSP) on the Narmada river in Madhya Pradesh can now register their grievances at special camps set up by the government to solve their rehabilitation related problems. "Special camps would be put up in Jhabua, Barwani, Dhar and Khargone districts for solving rehabilitation-related problems of the families affected by raising the dam height to 121.92 metres," a state official said. Sub-divisional officers (revenue), tehsildars and land acquisition officers/rehabilitation officers would be present at the camps to solve their problems, preferably on the spot, and provide them necessary guidance. http://www.hindustantimes.com/news/181_1691877,001302250000.htm Check dams can’t insulate Gujarat from water shortage : J N VYAS the last few days, a lot of hype was created with Narmada Bachao Andolan supporters vehemently arguing against large dams and in favour of small local solutions. They quoted Gujarat’s experience with check dams (which perhaps got a publicity overdose by the government of Gujarat, which did not publicise their limitations!) what are the realities? The per capita availability of water in India, which was around 5,000 cubic meter per person per year in 1951, has already dwindled to around 1,200 cubic meter per person per year. The problem will get aggravated considering the fact that India has not only highly variant and uneven precipitation but also uneven distribution of surface water resources. As such, India accounts for 2.5 per cent of the global landmass and is blessed with 4 per cent of the water resources. However, these favourable statistics would turn upside down when two important conditions are superimposed on them. The first is that India accounts for 16 per cent of the population of the world against the 4 per cent water resources. S e c - ond, two-third of the water resources in India are concentrated in the river basins of Ganga, Brahmaputra and Meghna for one-third of the population. It would therefore be evident that two-third of the country have one-third of the water resources. The states like Punjab, Haryana, Delhi, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Orissa are some of the major states which fall out of this region. This would mean that states like Gujarat — outside these basins — have per capita availability of water of less than 800 cubic meter per person per year ! As per the world standards, availability of water of less than 1,000 cubic meter per person per year is suggestive of the acute water stressed situation. Therefore, even if all the combined resources in Gujarat — including precipitation, surface water, ground water etc — are harnessed, the average remains much below 1,000 cubic meter, suggesting that the state’s water resources are already over-stressed. This creates not only a situation of hardship resulting in acute shortage of drinking water and water for sanitation, but also affects agriculture, threatening our food security in the years to come. Harnessing all kinds of water resources, thus has tremendous importance for almost two-third of the population of this country, Gujarat included not only for sustainable economic growth HEIGHT MATTERS : TOI 14/6/2006 J N VYAS Ahmedabad: Narmada Abhiyan, a federation of pro-Narmada organisations, have threatened to launch a statewide agitation if the ongoing work of raising the Sardar Sarovar dam height to 121.92 metres was stopped following pressure from NBA by Medha Patkar. “We will launch an agitation, along with partner states Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan, in case work is discontinued on this national project, which was vital for development and prosperity,” said Narmada Abhiyan executive chairman Jay Narayan Vyas at a press conference at Gujarat Chamber of Commerce and Industry on Thursday. However, Vyas said people might not have to resort to an agitation as they expected PM Manmohan Singh to protect their interests during the review of the project on Saturday. On Union water resources minister Saifuddin Soz’s decision of dispatching a threemember committee to Madhya Pradesh and the subsequent report, Vyas said, “It was natural that the committee was followed by the NBA activists, exposing who prompted it.” Vyas said the Narmada Abhiyan had taken strong exception to this undemocratic, unconstitutional creation of a committee, which was nothing more than an instrument to facilitate the NBA. “We believe that Soz has acted under pressure from NBA and some hidden hand which is guiding the agitation to stall the construction of the dam.” He said that a delegation of Gujarat MPs had left for Delhi where they would meet the prime minister on Friday and make a strong representation. Chief ministers of Gujarat, Maharashtra and Rajasthan would also plead their case during the review meeting to be presided over by Manmohan Singh. Among those present at the meeting at GCCI were Krishnaprasad Patel, the founder of the Abhiyan, and representatives of trade and commerce — Trilok Parikh and Shankerlal Guru. http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Repository/ml.asp?Ref=VE9JQS8yMDA2LzA0LzE0I0FyMDA0MDE=&Mode=HTML&Locale=english-skin-custom Dams must for progress: Speed up rehabilitation : Editorial Deccan, 27-04-06 http://www.centralchronicle.com/20060427/2704282.htm Political activities as regards increasing the height of the Sardar Sarovar dam have not dampened. Whereas it is equally important to rehabilitate the displaced persons without indulging into vested politics. For development and progress, dams across the rivers have become very necessary and important but at the same time there should not be unnecessary cry over increasing the height of the dam as per requirements. Increasing the dam height would benefit a large segment of the population, and hence it should not be made a political issue. There is need to put an end to the charges and counter-charges related to increasing the height of the dam as these affect the work of construction of the dam. The Narmada Bachao Andolan activists are not sincere about rehabilitation of the oustees. The agitation seems to be to protect the prestige of some. This stems from the fact that their agitation is not creative but rather it aims to put obstructions in the dam work. It looks as if selfishness rules among the leaders. Had NBA been serious about this issue, it would have released the list of the displaced persons to the government. Till now they have not submitted the whole list. After the summer season, rains are sure to come. In this situation, there is need for making emergency relief arrangements also. Hence the Gujarat and the Madhya Pradesh governments would have to take up relief works on an emergency basis. The rehabilitation works should be taken up as per the desires of the displaced people. Both the governments should look into the complaints of the displaced people and satisfy them to the maximum. MP govt replies on Narmada rehab : Tuesday, April 25, 2006 (Bhopal): The Madhya Pradesh government has replied to the Supreme Court on the rehabilitation of those affected by the Narmada dam. In its reply to the court, the government said it has almost completed the rehabilitation process. But it added that the NBA activists were creating hurdles in the process, by forcing oustees not to accept land from the government. In its reply to the Supreme Court, Gujarat government said: Rehabilitation and resettlement work is complete. Nearly 4801 plots for house sites are available for allotment to any additional oustees who would like to settle in Gujarat. Action plan is being prepared to meet any eventuality and mitigate the inconvenience during the coming monsoon. The project is already two years behind schedule. Any further delay would mean severe loss to the nation. http://www.ndtv.com/template/template.asp?category=National&template=narmada&slug=MP+govt+replies+on+Narmada+rehab&id=87248&callid=1 A look at the Sardar Sarovar Project Last month, the Narmada Control Authority gave its nod for raising the height of the Sardar Sarovar dam on the Narmada from 110.64 metres to 121.92 metres, prompting Narmada Bachao Aandolan (NBA) leader Medha Patkar to begin an indefinite hunger strike. Reason? NBA’s contention that even persons displaced by the previous increases in the dam height had not been rehabilitated. And a further increase would only lead to the submergence of more land and thus the displacement of more people. fe takes a Closer Look at the Sardar Sarovar Project (SSP) and various issues surrounding it. http://www.financialexpress.com/fe_full_story.php?content_id=124711 Diya Mirza withdraws her remark over Narmada dam : UNI 24-04-06 Crumpled under pressure and people's threat of agitation over her remark on Narmada dam project in which actress Diya Mirza favoured film actor Aamir Khan stands on the isssue, she had withdrew her statement, stating she was not opposing the Narmada dam project. http://www.hindustantimes.com/news/181_1682219,001100030009.htm PM constitutes panel on Narmada relief Monday, April 24, 2006 19:50 IST BERLIN: A week before the Narmada Dam controversy comes up before the Supreme Court, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh constituted a three-member high-level committee to oversee relief and rehabilitation of people affected by the project and submit a report within three months. The committee, headed by former Comptroller and Auditor General V K Shunglu, will conduct sample surveys to ascertain the status of rehabilitation, Dr Sanjaya Baru, the PM's media advisor, told reporters here. http://www.dnaindia.com/report.asp?NewsID=1025864 SC issues notice to Gujarat on Narmada tribunal PTI 21/4/06 New Delhi, April 21: The Supreme Court today issued notice to the Gujarat government on a petition seeking implementation of the Narmada tribunal award and giving due share of water to the drought-prone Kutchch region of the state. The notice was issued by a bench of Justice Ruma Pal, Justice C K Thakker and Justice Markandey Katju which asked the Gujarat government to respond to the petition filed by Kachchh Jal Sankat Nivaran Samiti and others challenging a Gujarat High Court order dismissing their plea on the issue. http://www.expressindia.com/fullstory.php?newsid=66469 Why Deshmukh’s Narmada vote was against his state Power-starved Maharashtra’s share could double to over 1,000 million units if dam height raised Mumbai, April 20: When Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh voted in Delhi in favour of suspending work on raising the height of the Sardar Sarovar dam, this is what his power-starved state almost lost, until the Supreme Court said construction must continue along with effective rehabilitation: • If the dam height is raised to 121.92 m before the monsoon, its power generation capacity is expected to double to 4,000 million units—of which Maharashtra would gain over 1,000 million units this year. READ MORE AT : http://www.indianexpress.com/story/2872.html Wrong day Arundhati! was inevitable that the two supporters of the Narmada Bachao movement would meet some day soon. So Booker-winning novelist Arundhati Roy and media-bashing perfectionist Aamir Khan met at a five-star coffee shop. The reason for this bizarre rendezvous is obvious, though both have denied meeting at all. More at: http://www.dnaindia.com/report.asp?NewsID=1025176 Dear Aamir, you are a fake: Fan READ THIS While Aamir Khan is campaigning and crusading for the Narmada Bachao Andolan, one of his fans, Budhaditya Roy from Mumbai, wrote in to ibnlive.com, expressing anguish over what he calls the actor's hypocrisy and a vain attempt to garner publilcity for his forthcoming releases. I don't know if the word hypocrite does justice to a person like Aamir Khan. The issue isn't about whether some star should put her or his weight behind the displaced poor in the Narmada valley, it never was. The real question is that do the people, like Aamir Khan, walk the talk? http://www.ibnlive.com/news/dear_aamir_you_are_a_fake_fan/8428-8.html Soz effect: PM in hurry to name Narmada panel : TNN 19/4/06 NEW DELHI: Keen to cap the Narmada muddle, aggravated by water resource minister Saifuddin Soz's "anti-dam"remarks, PM Manmohan Singh is expected to name the proposed three-member committee of eminent persons to monitor rehabilitation of the displaced people before he leaves for Germany on Saturday. According to PMO sources, Singh will announce the names as it is hoped the constitution of the committee would help set right the feeling the Centre was opposed to raising the height of the Sardar Sarovar Dam http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/1496965.cms Rename if needed but complete Narmada dam: Modi : PTI 21/4/06 Ahmedabad, April 21: Accusing the UPA government of creating hurdles in the construction of Sardar Sarovar dam, Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi on Friday said he was willing to rename the project after Rajiv Gandhi or Sonia Gandhi for its speedy completion. "I am surprised that the project, whose foundation stone was laid by former Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, is not completed even after 30 years. I am willing to go to the extent of changing the name of the project and attribute it to either Rajiv Gandhi or Sonia Gandhi," Modi said inaugurating India's first solar thermal air-conditioning system built by Mamta Energy at Satej village on the city outskits. "I don't mind changing the name but the dam has to be completed. I strongly feel that the hurdles are being created because of Sardar Patel's name in the project," Modi said adding the state would find other ways of paying homage to Patel who was great leader of Gujarat. The Congress-- both at the state and Centre -- owe an explanation to the public as to why the Union Water Resource Minister Saiffudin Soz made the announcement for stalling the project, he added. http://www.expressindia.com/fullstory.php?newsid=66460 Narmada dam controversy: BJP, Congress join hands : SURAT, April 15 Setting aside their political differences, rivals BJP and Congress have joined hands in their common fight against the Central government's decision to review the height of the Sardar Sarovar Project (SSP). http://news.webindia123.com/news/Articles/India/20060415/306887.html Can’t let dam work stop: Gujarat Cong chorus: April 15, 03:08 AM ‘‘The work (on the Narmada dam) should not be stopped at any cost,” said AICC general secretary Ahmed Patel. “Just as work on raising the dam height is going on at a war-footing, rehabilitation should also be taken up alongside without the dam work suffering. We are doing our best so that Gujarat and its people do not suffer,” Patel told The Indian Express. http://in.news.yahoo.com/060414/48/63jqc.html 'UPA govt creating messy stalemate over Narmada dam issue' PTI April 16 HINDUPUR (Andhra Pradesh): Accusing the UPA government at the Centre of creating a 'messy stalemate' over the Narmada issue, senior BJP leader L K Advani on Sunday said moves to stop construction work on the dam were politically motivated and made a mockery of government's talk of Bharat Nirman. "Stopping further work on the mega (Narmada) project in which concerned states have already invested Rs 21,000 crore in 16 years makes a mockery of UPA goverment's tall talk of Bharat Nirman," he said. http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/1492003.cms MP scrambles to clear air on Narmada dam: IANS April 8, 2006 BHOPAL: Even as anti-dam protests hot up in Delhi, Madhya Pradesh claimed the centre had been "wrongly briefed" by activists about rehabilitation measures for those displaced by the Sardar Sarovar Project on the Narmada river. "The central government has been wrongly briefed by the NGOs protesting in Delhi," an official in the state government claimed Friday even as a three-member team of central ministers toured select resettlement sites. http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/1482216.cms Modi questions UPA govt's development credentials TNN, APRIL 17 NEW DELHI: The Manmohan Singh government appeared to have inflicted yet another self-goal by its flip-flop on the NBA demand to halt construction at the Narmada dam site. It gave the BJP an opportunity to tar the Congress and the ruling combine at the Centre, with the “anti-development” brush. http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow/1492601.cms Govt in a whirlpool over dam : times news network April 17, 2006 NEW DELHI: The Manmohan Singh government, which came close to appeasing social entrepreneurs and rent-a-quote crowd in the civil society by promising suspension of the construction of the Narmada dam, on Sunday did a U-turn, saying that no such proposal was under consideration. The Prime Minister assured an all-party delegation from Gujarat, including parliamentarians from the Congress and the BJP, that the construction of the Sardar Sarovar dam would not be stopped. http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow/1492580.cms Modi calls off hunger strike: Agencies: April 18 AHMEDABAD: Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi on Monday evening called off his hunger strike in view of the Supreme Court decision to not grant a stay on construction work on Sardar Sarovar dam. Modi, who had embarked on a 51-hour fast in support of increasing the height of the dam, made an announcement on the second day of his strike. Modi also said the construction work on Narmada river would go on side by side with effective rehabilitation of the affected people. Narmada dam work should continue: SC New Delhi: The Supreme Court yesterday directed that construction of the Sardar Sarovar dam on the Narmada river should not be stopped even as it asked authorities to ensure the rehabilitation of people likely to be displaced by the project. After hearing a petition that said over 35,000 families in Madhya Pradesh displaced by the project were yet to be rehabilitated, a bench headed by Chief Justice Y K Sbharwal said the apex court would "have no option but to stop construction of the dam if the relief and rehabilitation of villagers is not adequately looked into". Uddhav Thackeray announces Sena's support to Modi on dam issue Shiv Sena Executive President Uddhav Thackeray today announced his party's support to the Narendra Modi government in Gujarat over the Narmada dam height issue. "Shiv Sena has all along been in favour of the dam. It has supported the BJP on this issue earlier and it will also do so now and in future," Uddhav said addressing a function at the venue where Modi has resorted to fast in support of increasing the height of the dam. He said Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray had given Modi his blessings on the issue.