Indian Dam Victory

A dramatic midnight announcement of capitulation by the state government of Madhya Pradesh has ended the protest occupation of the Maheshwar dam site in India. The site of this enormous hydropower project had been occupied by thousands of demonstrators since January 11th, and an indefinite fast was started on January 26th by area residents worried that their land and homes would be submerged and that environmental impacts on the region would be severe and irreversible. On the evening of January 30th, even as the news that the government had almost accepted the demands spread in the submergence area, thousands of people started pouring in to the occupation site. By midnight, and the time of the announcement, the crowd had swelled from 3,000 to over 8,000. The state government accepted all demands of the protesters, ordering the stoppage of work and a total review of the project, including land acquisition. A decision will be taken on the construction only after the report of a Task Force created to review this project has been obtained. The Task Force consists of representatives of the government of Madhya Pradesh, independent experts and representatives of the Narmada Bachao Andolan (Save the Narmada). With this victory, work on the project has come to a grinding halt.

Protests against the Maheshwar dam project, one of 30 major, 135 medium-sized, and 3000 small dams planned for the whole Narmada Valley, have been going on for more than 10 years. In October, a rally of 10,000 was held in the area calling for work on the dam to stop. Neither the government nor project managers responded, hence this latest act of civil disobedience - the occupation of the valley by a village of tents called 'Sangharsh Gaon' - the Village of Struggle.

Meanwhile, protesters are keeping a close watch on how the foreign players will react to this government review - including equipment suppliers ABB, and Siemens and Bayerische Vereinsbank companies who are giving term loans to the project.

For more info contact the Bretton Woods Project, PO Box 100, London SE1 7RT, Britain 0171 532 210 bwref@gn.apc.org