Hundreds of social activists and students on Friday hit the streets in New Delhi demanding an immediate halt to "eviction of tribals" in the Narmada valley and releasing the report of the Central ministerial team which visited the Sardar Sarovar dam site.
Activists from several NGOs and students from the Delhi University, Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) and the Tata Institute of Social Science, took out the march from Rajghat, the samadhi of Mahatma Gandhi. They were stopped at Jantar Mantar, while on their way to Rashtrapati Bhawan.
They flayed the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's decision to set up a committee to go into the relief and rehabilitation of people affected by the Sardar Sarovar Project.
"Another committee has been instituted to look into the Narmada issue. The findings of the earlier report (of the ministerial team) should first be made public and open for debate," Aanchal Kapur from Kriti, an NGO, said.
The protestors raised slogans like "No more dams, no more eviction", "stop rehabilitation on paper" during the rally, whose central theme was: "Rashtrapita Se RashtrapatiTak".
The Government should concentrate on providing health care, drinking water, access of facilities for the differently-abled before making "world-class cities", they said.
{{/usCountry}}The Government should concentrate on providing health care, drinking water, access of facilities for the differently-abled before making "world-class cities", they said.
{{/usCountry}}The activists said they also submitted a memorandum to Kalam mentioning their demands.