The tragic deaths
of 24 young students in Himachal Pradesh due to sudden release of waters from Larji
Hydro Power Project on the river
Beas reminds us once again of a similar tragedy at Dharaji on the banks of
river Narmada in Madhya Pradesh in the year 2005. While official figures say
fifty seven people died due to sudden release of waters from the upstream Narmada Sagar dam, the unofficial estimate is that over a hundred people died.
While these are very grave, one time, less frequent dam disasters, there are other downstream impacts of dams which are rather permanent,
having far reaching consequences, resulting into great
hardships for the people living in the downstream of the dams. Many people’s
movements have been bringing to light the multiple adverse impacts dams have on
the downstream ecology of the river and its people.
One such
struggle that had effectively raised these issues was the movement in the downstream
of Dantiwada and Sipu dams in North Gujarat lead by a senior Gandhian Shri Chunibhai
Vaidya. [ Dantiwada dam is on the Banas river in Banaskantha district of Gujarat. Sipu river is the main right bank triburtary of Banas and Sipu dam is on this river.] Though this struggle was one of the pioneering struggles in the country
to have brought to light the serious impacts that dams have on the downstream
ecology and its people, not much is known about it.
 |
| Dantiwada Dam. Photo: NWRWSKD, Govt of Gujarat. |
Excerpts from the following
document of Gujarat Loksamiti (translated here from Gujarati by me), the organization leading the struggle, will
bring to light some important issues concerning downstream impacts of dams and riparian
rights:
Gujarat Loksamiti
Date-18-9-1989
" When the delegation of Gujarat
Loksamiti and allied organizations met with the Chief Minister Shri Amarsingh
Choudhary, Minister of Water Resource Shri Vijaydas Mahant and other officials
on 18-9-1989, Monday; along with the points given the following detailed note
was attached:
Subject:
1.
The issue of
releasing waters from Dantiwada Dam.
2.
Stop the
construction of Sipu dam.
The CM has himself admitted
several times that riparian rights is not only a law of Gujarat, or the Country
but it is an international law and accordingly the people of the downstream should
be supplied water…in order that silt also flows along with the water till the
month of September, water shall not be stopped.
This issue is accepted by the
task manager of the World Bank…Chairman of the Central Water Commission…and
member Planning Commission…
Four days ago, we had gone to
the village Gulabpura in Radhanpur Taluka at ten o’clock in the night. There we
saw women going to fill one pot of water at that time of the night which took 3-4 hours to fill …there are
villages there which drink water from ponds having both human and animal
excreta. There are such villages also that drink hard/salty water harmful to
health. And the villages that never had any water problems have been declared
no source and they do not get water even 2-4 days in a week from a pipeline that has been
provided for water to them. Sights of four hundred women struggling to fill
water from just four taps…is common.
It is our claim that this is
all as a result of Dantiwada [Dam]. There was no such issue before Dantiwada.
Dantiwada is the cause of this plight.
1. As per riparian rights it is the people of downstream who have the first right over the waters of Dantiwada. The CM has agreed that the water should flow freely till the month of September. The past twenty five years of experience makes it clear that those who have built the dam have by mistake made it so big that it is never going to get filled and water is never going to flow for those who live in the downstream. Considering it to be the first right of those living in the downstream, the waters should be released at 530 feet. By doing so, even silt will flow down with the water and the rate of silting of the dam too will be slow.
2. The project report of Danditwada clearly states that the downstream people will have uninterrupted flow of Sipu. This promise given in writing with all seriousness has been completely disregarded and Sipu dam is being built. This work is not moral. Even if 50 crores have been spent, another 50 crores are yet to be spent. Why is the Government in a hurry to spend hundred crores and invite destruction of the downstream? It is necessary to seriously think about stopping the work of the Sipu dam today.
3. The argument that there is a catchment of 944 square miles below the dam is a completely misguiding argument ...Even this year the river flow lasted only for 4-5 days…Today also everyone can see that the river is completely dry.
4. ...You have said many times that the dam waters will be released. The project report of Dantiwada also states that waters will be released for the downstream. But not once in these many years this has been done…
5. There was a saying on the banks of Kakrej as well as in the villages far away that ‘…pick up mud and you will find water…’One could get water at 7-8-10 and 15 feet…this is why people preferred to have wells in every field. There were thousands of such wells…as per the Chairman of Janta Bank…, about six thousand wells were built with concrete frame. Today not a single well has water. Nearly 10-15 thousand fields have no water for irrigation from these wells today. Crores worth of potatoes grew at Kakrej, thousands of labor from outside got employment here, the river bed was auctioned for potato cultivation and farmers earned lakhs of rupees. All this was finished after the building of Dantiwada dam. Where water was available at 7-8-10-15 feet, the water table has gone down to 400-500 to 800-900 feet. Usage of electricity for this is a big issue today. This was not an issue at all before Dantiwada. What did we achieve after having spent so much is an issue today? For Umbri-Shihori water pipeline, seven wells have been dug in the river bed…Due to this water table is falling. Water was available at 8 meters, today it has gone down to 35 meters. And this is because the Sipu dam is not yet built and the river is still flowing. If Sipu dam will be built, even this pipeline will go dry. Then we will have to run to provide water through tankers. After snatching away the river and drying the pipeline, we are fast moving in the direction of providing water through tankers.
6. About two lakh acres in the downstream before Dantiwada received silt…if the Government wishes; it can establish an investigation committee to check this…Gujarat Loksamiti and its supporting organizations should be part of such a committee…
7. We also want to raise one another issue of importance, what is the income against the expenditure done…on the building of the Dantiwada dam, its maintenance...interest on capital invested...salary of staff...etc. Also place the revenue before it...you will see the damage done to national production ...
8. The suggestions that we have made are creative and such that will prove helpful to the Government…
Signed by:
Raju Purohit. Ilaben
Pathak Chunibhai Vaidya
Convener, Secretary, President,
Banaskatha District Loksamiti Ahmedabad Women’s Gujarat Loksamiti.
Action Group
END
(Translated from Gujarati by me)
No comments:
Post a Comment