Prominent social activist Medha Patkar recently went on a fast in New Delhi to protest against the loss of livelihood of indigeneous people who are being displaced due to dam development activities on the river Narmada. She was joined in this protest by several prominent literary and social figures, activists and NGO representatives. As of today (April 6), her fast has entered the 8th day and Ms. Patkar and her colleagues have refused any refreshments from several politicians who came to ask Ms. Patkar to call off her protest. This morning, as her health deteriorated, Ms. Patkar and some of her colleagues were arrested and taken to the hospital on the charge of attempting to commit suicide!

This is yet another episode in the saga of social protests against dam development projects. To give a little more background on this particular incident, the local government started to build a dam across the river Narmada in India in the early 1980's. Going through with this plan would have meant that almost 100,000 people would have ben displaced as a consequence. The NBA - Narmada Bachao Andolan (save the Narmada) - led by Medha Patkar was formed in order to protest against this move by the government.

Recently, a decision was taken to raise the height of the dam from 110 to 122 metres. Since this would result in the displacement of more people, Ms. Patkar and her colleagues launched their protest. Several prominent cabinet ministers have visited her and assured her that they would personally visit all the affected villages and ascertain the needs of the displaced people. However, these assurances have been of no avail. The NBA's view has been that the government has not yet provided adequate compensation both in the form of resources (such as resettled land) and money to those that have already been displaced. It seems that a lack of faith in the governments' ability to 'walk the talk' has led Ms. Patkar and her colleagues to prolong their fast despite assurances by politicians.

Ms. Patkar's prominence and the endorsement of her views by people such as former prime minister V.P. Singh and famed novelist Arundhati Roy have provided an increased fillip to the NBA's campaign. The latest round of protests have made front page news for the last week in almost every leading Indian newspaper. This has naturally put a lot of pressure on the national government to intervene in a more practical as opposed to verbal manner.

It is too early to predict how all of this will pan out, what actions the government will take, and how Ms. Patkar will choose to make her next move. However, this is an interesting 'live' case example of how a mass social movement can severely impact a development project.

For more information on the Narmada River project and the protest related to it - visit the Friends of the River Narmada website.

Posted by ashwin at April 5, 2006 11:14 PM