Displaced by dam, MP villagers protest in water

Zeenews Bureau

Bhopal: Nearly 250 people displaced by the Omkareshwar dam project in Madhya Pradesh have been protesting since Saturday by standing in waist-deep water. And the protest has been on even though the water level continues to rise. Dubbed as ‘jal satyagraha’, the displaced people had announced their protest last month at Ghogalgaon village in the East Nimar region. The protest is against the Madhya Pradesh government’s move to allow a four-metre rise in the water level in the dam, from 189 to 193 metres. The protesters say increasing the water level in the dam would submerge their lands spread across several villages. The 520-MW Omkareshwar project on Narmada river is among the several big dams in the state. “The government is acting in violation of SC orders and trying to drive the oustees away without rehabilitation by submerging their lands and houses. But the oustees have resolved that they will not give in and will rather drown than be driven away,” Alok Agarwal of the Narmada Bachao Andolan reportedly said.