Protest Against Bal Ganga Dam Project
By Vikram Jadav
11 March, 2011
The Verdict Weekly
The Congress-NCP alliance government in Maharashtra came under public ire once again when nearly 8,,000 villagers from Nidholi in Konkan region are opposing CIDCO's Rs 350-crore Bal Ganga Dam project, which they feel disrupt their day-to-day living
The 720-km long green ribbon skirting the Arabian Sea waves crashing on Maharashtra coastline, is now set to roil once again. The wrath of the people fighting back-to-back battles against mining giants, Nuclear Power Corporation India Ltd (NPCIL) is now set to alight the village Nidholi where Maharashtra government has plans to set up Rs 350-crore Bal Ganga Project (BGP,) a CIDCO dam construction scheme under Maha Special Economic Zone.
The natives are fuming and the simmering anger against what they term as “callous urban-crazy government working for profit-hungry industrialists and multi-nationals,” is slowly lighting up the slow fuse of a rage against all kinds of authorities. Initial reports suggest that the implementation of the project will lead to the displacement of at least 8,000 people from the region.
“Our battle is for our land and livelihood,” is the slogan resounding in the hamlets and villages. “Seasoned politicians as usual are trying to beguile us. What do they take us for? Fools. This is our ancestral land and whether government gives us Rs 20 lakh or more we are just fed up with the kind of nonsense that is taking place,” said Dutta Patil, a villager from Nidholi.
As per the government's offer, a family of three will get 1.5 guntha (approximately 1,500 sq ft) land and a family of five will get 4 guntha (approximately 4,300 sq ft). I say they should give every family an equal 4 guntha, since we are losing our farms and livelihood,” opined an annoyed village chief, Jaywant Mahtre.
With struggles and protests saturating the entire belt, several tribals from the region have resigned themselves to bull-dozing by the Indian state. As per the preliminary survey, nearly 13 villages with a pre-dominant tribal population, will have to be razed from the region, to accommodate the project. The work on the project which has already begun in all likelihood will submerge around 1,240 hectares of land of which 602 hectares comprises paddy fields with 265 hectares marked as forest land.
Strange it may sound but out of a populace of 8,000 people who inhabit the region, the government and corporate establishment media which is crowing about the success of the project and the happiness of natives, till date has managed to convince or lure only 70 people. However, government officials are confident that more villagers will sign up once a good compensation package is offered. Vijay Kasat, project-in-charge, BGP said, “The government's rehabilitation package, every person will be employed for a few days, with immediate wage payment. For the houses they are losing, they will get compensation as per current market value. We will also build them a colony, where they will own property. They will also get a grant of Rs 10,000.”
In a similar vein, district collector Subhash Sonawane, has also claimed, “As of now, there is no report of discontent from the locals. Rehabilitation packages have been chalked out and submitted to the government for sanction. Now, it is they who'll disclose and publish the details. Hence the question of discontent amongst villagers is trivial.”
But then even though the package deal is being considered secondary in the battle against “Save Kokan,” the area has already started witnessing spate of resignations in panchayats and protest demonstrations.
The Phase I of the Rs 350-crore BGP project on Bal Ganga River has already begun and so are the protests. While the state government is exulting about the benefits to the Mumbai populace describing how by 2013 - the completion date of the project - the megapolis will get 350 million litres of water every day, the activists are pointing out to the villagers as to how their once perennially green home turf will turn into a parched dry crackling thirsty earth.
Vikram Jadav is a senior journalist covering politics, crime scenario and development in Maharashtra . He is with the Mumbai Sandhya Group Publications, which also publishes Mumbai Sandhya, Vruth Manas, popular Hindi and Marathi Daily newspaper read by mass in Maharashtra . He can be contacted at [email protected] , [email protected], [email protected]
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