ON THE ninth day of the indefinite hunger strike undertaken by Narmada Bachao Andolan (NBA) leader Medha Patkar, coinciding with ‘Navratri’, a team of three Union Ministers comprising Union Water Resource Minister Saifuddin Soz, Social Justice and Empowerment Meira Kumar and Minister of State in the Prime Ministers Office (PMO) Prithviraj Chavan arrived in the City today.
The team of ministers would be having a meeting with Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan who would be arriving in the City from Bhopal for this purpose.
The Ministers sent by the Central Government at the initiative of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh have come to fulfil their promise made to Medha Patkar of visiting the dam-affected site and see the work of rehabilitation.
The Ministers had met her in Delhi on Monday and persuaded her to break her fast on account of her frail health. Patkar had not only refused to do so, but also turned back a glass of fruit juice sent by the Prime Minister with a note saying that she would not compromise as people were being uprooted for construction of a dam.
Patkar had gone on fast in protest of the Narmada Control Authority’s (NCA) proposal to raise the height of the dam from 110.64 metres to 122 metres and complete rehabilitation of the families being displaced from their land.
{{/usCountry}}Patkar had gone on fast in protest of the Narmada Control Authority’s (NCA) proposal to raise the height of the dam from 110.64 metres to 122 metres and complete rehabilitation of the families being displaced from their land.
{{/usCountry}}The NCA had given its clearance after the Supreme Court gave its nod on the undertaking that rehabilitation work be accorded top priority and on the concerned state governments giving their undertaking in that matter.
The team of Central Ministers would visit villages in the areas coming under the water released from the dam. The CM would probably accompany them on their trip to the affected villages tomorrow.