Madhya Pradesh: Jal Satyagraha enters second day

The Jal Satyagraha by over 50 tribals and Dalit farmers of Gogalgaon and neighbouring villages in Madhya Pradesh's Khandwa district entered second day on Sunday.

The Jal Satyagraha by over 50 tribals and Dalit farmers of Gogalgaon and neighbouring villages in Madhya Pradesh's Khandwa district entered second day on Sunday.

Hundreds of villagers, along with Narmada Bachao Andoloan activists and Aam Admi Paty workers, were present at the agitation site to provide the protestors moral support.

The agitators, mostly those displaced by Omkareshwar dam in the Narmada valley, are demanding adequate compensation.

NBA activist Chotaroopa Palit said the dam on the Narmada has been raised to 191 metres, causing the river water to enter the fields in Gogalgaon, about 80 kilometres from Khandwa.

The protestors alleged that the state government did not provide them any adequate monetary compensation and also alternative land to the displaced.

They are also demanding a decrease in the water level of the dam.

NBA leaders alleged that most of these farmers had been given compensation at the rate of `2 lakh per acre in 2006. But, they had returned the money on the assurance by the Grievance Redressal Authority (GRA) that they would be given land if they returned the compensation money.

Khandwa collector MK Agrawal said the water level of Omkareshwar dam reached 191 meters with its full capacity around 7pm.

"There is no loss of life and property with the filling of dam to 191 meters," he said.

Read:Tribals in Gogalgaon begin Jal Satyagraha for land compensation