History of the Narmada Water Dispute Tribunal
In 2016-17, the SC ruled (while the Bhartiya Janta Party was in power at the centre) that the Sardar Sarovar dam oustees be paid cash
compensation and further (as reported in the Telegraph) -
“the judges asked the 4,897 families to vacate their land by July 31, 2017 failing which the authorities will be free to "forcibly remove them”.
This fundamentally
violates the provisions of rehabilitation and resettlement laid down by the Narmada
Water Dispute Tribunal Award (NWDT) for the dam to be built. The judgement also
robs the people of the Narmada valley of their fundamental rights, rights to
justice and dignity.
As the SC judgement violates the NWDT award, it would be important to remember the history of the interstate dispute over the dam height between
the States of Gujarat, Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh. It would be important to know the history of the formation of the NWDT in the year
1969 under the Inter State River Water Disputes Act, 1956; the declaration of
the award in December 1979; the powerful struggle called the Nimad Bachao Anolan in Madhya Pradesh against the NWDT award that had raised the dam height in favour of Gujarat; and later on, the Narmada Bachao Andolan (NBA). It would be important to know the role different politicians played in the history of the Sardar Saovar Project (SSP), especially the role of Pandit Nehru, Indira Gandhi and Morarji Desai. The details of this history, the interstate disputes, the people's struggle against the dam can be reffered to here in the voices of diverse people associated with the struggle: https://oralhistorynarmada.in/early-history-of-the-movement/
But here is a glimse of this history of the Dam, followed by the history of how the Sardar Sarovar Project was conceived and the formation of the NWDT as detailed in the autobiography of Late Mr. Morarji Desai titled, ‘Maru Jeevan Vrutant’ (My life account) marked in blue.
It was in the year 1961 that the foundation of a much smaller dam than what it is now was laid in Gujarat on the river Narmada by India's first Prime Minister Pandit Nehru. The height of the dam, called the Navagam Dam back then (now the Sardar Sarovar Project) was 161 feet only, see: http://www.sardarsarovardam.org/history-of-nwdt.aspx. However Gujarat state and its politicians wanted a much higher dam on the river Narmada. This resulted into a dispute among the party states as a high dam on the Narmada in Gujarat was to submerge large tracks of fertile lands and forests in the adjacent states of Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra. The dispute over the height of the dam and the sharing of Narmada waters was therefore reffered to a tribunal in 1969 as the state of Gujarat was not aggreeable to a smaller dam. This was when the Prime Minsiter of India was Mrs. Indira Gandhi. It was only 10 years later in 1979 that the Narmada Water Dispute Tribunal gave its order in favour of Gujarat for a much higher dam at 455 feet when the Janta Party government was in power in India. It is a wide spread belief in the Narmada Valley that the working of the tribunal gained momentum only after Mr. Morarji Desai from Gujarat became India's Prime Minister and the height of the dam was increased in favour of Gujarat while the Janta Party was in power. The dam got completed in 2017, also while the Bhartiya Janta Party was in power with Mr. Narendra Modi, originally from Gujarat as the Prime Minsiter of India.
Some of this early history is shared here as written by Mr. Morarji Desai in his autobiograoht translated from Gujarati to English:
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| Sardar Sarovar Dam. Photo Source: Wikipedia. |
Morarji Desai: "In 1947-48, it was thought to implement several irrigation
projects in the State of Mumbai [Which at that time included areas of today’s
Gujarat and Maharashtra]. Tapi and Narmada projects were accepted then but since
statistical information was not available regarding the Narmada project that
the sketch of the Narmada project could not be drawn immediately. It was decided
by Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel and many of us to first lay out the sketch and
implement the Tapi project and after that take up the Narmada Project. When
this project was being planned, I was the Chief Minister of Mumbai State. I had
instructed several industrialists of Ahmedabad to set up a ‘Nigam’ to give
final outline to the project, to administer it and to raise necessary funds for
the project. I had promised them that the management of the project would
remain with them so long as the Government does not repay the amount they had
invested in the project. At that time
the Narmada Project was the cheapest and yet it was not possible to pay
ordinary interest. As there was poor response to this, these negotiations were
abandoned. When the Mumbai Government first planned the project, as proper
statistical information was not available, the height of the dam was fixed at
300 feet. In the year 1960, it was when Gujarat and Maharashtra were separated,
that Shri. Jawaharlal Nehru had laid the foundation stone of the dam.
“However
due to lack of funds, the construction work could
not be started. Keeping in mind the States of Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat,
Maharashtra and Rajasthan, in order to study the Narmada Project
in-depth, the Government appointed the Khosla commission in the year
1963-64. The head of the
commission Shri. Khosla was a well known engineer and an able
administrator. He
or any of the members of Khosla commission had nothing to do with
Gujarat. The
commission collected all kinds of data, kept in mind the interests of
all the
four concerned States[1],
and seeing that the rights of none of the concerned States were affected, it
took into account the utmost way in which waters of the Narmada could be
utilised. While giving its final report in the year 1965-66[2],
the commission recommended the height of the dam at Navagam[3]
should be minimum 500 or 530 feet. Gujarat gave its consent and Rajasthan[4]
also accepted this. Madhya Pradesh opposed this and did not accept this. Due to
this height approximately 99,000 acres of agricultural land in Madhya Pradesh
would drown in the water. Besides, Gujarat would be deprived from the future
use of Narmada waters for only 150 miles where as Madhya Pradesh approximately
700 long miles. It was on these grounds that it had opposed [the height of the
dam proposed by the Khosla commission]. Maharashtra where Narmada flew only
over 30 miles, joined common cause with Madhya Pradesh and demanded more share
in the electricity to be generated. As Madhya Pradesh opposed with fury, it was
not possible to implement the project in Gujarat.
“After the fourth general elections, I rejoined the central
cabinet ministers. I was not in the Government from 1963 March to 1967. As per
the provisions of the constitution, in case of inter State river disputes and
decisions by the States there in, the central Government did not have the
rights to impose its decision on the concerned States. However the central
Government had the rights to appoint a legal tribunal that would hear the
petition/ appeal/request of the States and give a reasonable judgement. In
order to overcome the deadlock created by Madhya Pradesh, as per the provisions
of the tribunal, I requested the Prime Minister to refer this dispute to a
tribunal. Smt. Gandhi had agreed to my suggestion and this question was handed
over to the legal tribunal in the year 1968-69. Unfortunately Madhya Pradesh by
employing several good and bad measures delayed the matter.
“In the election of 1972, Smt. Gandhi had promised the
people of Gujarat to bring an early resolution of the Narmada controversy. The
people of Gujarat believed that Smt. Gandhi would intervene and give her
decision in August 1972...
“...the height of the dam could be kept at 530 or 500 feet
but it was also that Madhya Pradesh could construct as many projects in the
future as it wished. If Madhya Pradesh utilised all the Narmada waters and as a
result if Gujarat did not get any water, Gujarat would not complain is what I
am sure of. Yet, Madhya Pradesh was not satisfied because even if its interest
were not to be compromised, it did not like that Gujarat got benefits from the
Narmada project[5].
More importantly, due to the terrible floods in the Narmada, many areas like
Baroda and Bharuch in Gujarat have to suffer excessive loss/damage. This can be
stopped only if the height of the dam is kept at 500 feet. When more than fifty
lakh acres is to be irrigated, it is not possible to ignore the voices of the 99,000
acres of submergence lands. The landowners of whose lands are to be submerged
can be given other land either in Gujarat or Madhya Pradesh and they can be
better placed also...
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| Waters of the SSP enter the villages of Madhya Pradesh submerging homes and fields in 2013. Photo Source: Rajesh Khanna (Bacchu). |
“Prime Minister promised the people to bring about a quick
solution to this issue, as a result the people were lured and out of 160 seats
in the legislative assembly of Gujarat, they gave 140 seats to Smt. Indira
Gandhi...Though the Prime Minister had promised to bring about a speedy
solution, there was no solution till the year 1974. As opposed to this, she
withdrew this issue from the tribunal and kept it unresolved and submitted this
issue once again to the tribunal in the end of the year 1974. This is how the
judgement was delayed for no reason at all. That one of the two states will
have to be displeased and so decision is not being taken is what she had said.
But she should have understood this from the very beginning. She should not
have promised the people of Gujarat an early decision in the matter. If the
Prime minister had not withdrawn this dispute for arbitration, then the
tribunal may have announced its decision in the year 1974 itself...”
 |
| Rally in Baroda by the Sardar Sarovar Dam affected oustees of Gujarat. Photo Source: Not known. |
It would have been interesting to know Mr. Desai’s thoughts
on the events that unfolded after the year 1977 in the case of the Sardar
Sarovar Dam and the NWDT award as Mr. Morarji Desai became the Prime Minister
of India from 1977- 1979. Unfortunately his autobiography – “Maru Jeevan
Vrutant”, covers the events only up to the year 1975. It is therefore
difficult to know in the words of Mr. Morarji Desai himself from his autobiography
what transpired while he was the PM in the case of the Narmada/SPP and the
NWDT. However, as stated above, the people of the Narmada Valley in the submergence zone of SSP
firmly believe that it was only after Mr. Desai became the Prime Minister that
the NWDT gained momentum and it gave its award in favor of Gujarat allowing large scale submergence
of fertile lands and rich forests in Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh.
I also take this opportunity to express my faith that the
people’s movement in the Narmada valley will continue as it has continued against
all odds over several decades now. Long
live the struggle.
End
[1] It
is important to note here that Rajasthan is not a riparian State as far as the
river Narmada is concerned and yet it was made a party State in the dispute.
[2]
Note that the report for such a mega project was given within one year of the
formation of the Khosla commission.
[3]
Navagam, a tribal village on the banks of the river Narmada, currently in the
Narmada District of Gujarat was then the site of the Sardar Sarovar Dam. In
fact, the Sardar Sarovar Project was also popularly called the Navagam dam.
[4]
There was no land area, villages submerging due to this dam in Rajasthan.
[5]
Mr. Morarji Desai belonged to Gujarat. One wonders therefore if this statement
exhibits bias because Madhya Pradesh indeed had its valid reasons to oppose the
530 feet dam that was to submerge thousands of acres of agricultural land,
forests and displace large number of people.
