narmada bachaao andolan

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After the country won its independence, India's rst Prime Minister, Jawaharlal

Nehru, began calling for the construction of dams to aid in India's

development Many of these dams were proposed on the Narmada !iver,

which "ows through the states of #u$arat, Madhya Pradesh, and Maharashtra

In %&(, the Narmada )ater *isputes +ribunal approved the Narmada alley

*evelopment Pro$ect, which included -. large dams, %-/ medium dams, and-,... small dams +he most controversial dam was the 0ardar 0arovar

Pro$ect in the state of #u$arat )hile it was promised to supply irrigation and

drin1ing water, costs included the forced displacement of tens of thousands

of people and widespread environmental damage

In %&(/, the )orld 2an1 agreed to nance the 0ardar 0arovar dam with a

contribution of 34/. million without consulting the indigenous communities

that were to be displaced

In %&(, construction began on the 0ardar 0arovar dam, and the in$ustices of

the government's relocation program were e5posed6 there was not enough

land available for redistribution, amenities were low 7uality, and the settlers

had di8culty ad$usting to new environments

In response, local opponents, environmental activists, and academic,

scientic and cultural professionals founded a cluster of N#9s +hese N#9s

allied in %&(& to form the Narmada 2achao Andolan :N2A;, or the '0ave

Narmada Movement', led by Medha Pat1ar 0ince %&(/, Pat1ar had been

organi<ing protest marches against the dam

Poster for the 0ave Narmada Movement=nli1e other social $ustice

organi<ations in India at the time, the N2A directly opposed dam construction

altogether and proposed various development alternatives, including

decentrali<ed methods of water harvesting +hey demanded )orld 2an1

accountability for the displacement of millions and initially sought to verify

the claims regarding benets of the dams Much of the early campaign wasfocused on transparency from the government and )orld 2an1 N2A

employed peaceful marches, protests, and large>scale hunger fasts +hey also

campaigned against paying ta5es and denied government o8cials entry into

villages



In %&(&, ?ori =dall of the @nvironmental *efense und, wor1ed with a =0

Bongressional Bommittee to hold an oversight hearing on 0ardar 0arovar,

where Pat1ar could testify against the dam In addition to wor1ing with the

@nvironmental *efense und, the N2A would later partner with numerous

other human rights, environmental, and solidarity organi<ations overseas,

including the Narmada International Action Bommittee, riends of the @arth,and Japan's 9verseas @conomic Booperation und

N2A resistance operated at local, national, and international scales,

redening the terms of development, democracy, and accountability In

0eptember %&(&, 2aba Amte, another prominent social activist and moral

leader, led a C.,... person anti>dam N2A rally in Darsud, a town of E.,... in

Madhya Pradesh that faced submersion +he dam site and its surrounding

areas were under the Indian 98cial 0ecrets Act, which prohibited the

gathering of groups of more than ve people +he whole area was turned intoa police camp *espite the police barricades, one year later in %&&.,

thousands of villagers marched to the town of 2adwani, threatening to drown

in the dams rising waters rather than be relocated +he slogan, '1oi nahin

hatega6 bandh nahin banegaF' :No one will moveG the dam will not be builtF;

became popular +hese rallies and marches helped secure the allies of the

Indian middle class and liberal intellectuals, as well the attention of other

countries

In May of %&&., N2A organi<ed a E,...>person, ve>day sit>in at PrimeMinister P 0ingh's residence in New *elhi, which convinced the Prime

Minister to 'reconsider' the pro$ect

In *ecember of the same year, ve to si5 thousand men and women began

the Narmada Jan i1as 0angharsh Hatra :Narmada People's Progress 0truggle

March;, marching over %.. 1ilometers Marchers accompanied a seven>

member team, including Medha Pat1ar, who all decided to give up their lives

for the river +hey were stopped on the #u$arat border +he government

deployed #u$arati police and bussed thousands of government>supportedpro>dam demonstrators from urban centers to counter>protest +he

confrontation would last nearly two wee1s Marchers, who each had their

hands voluntarily tied together to demonstrate their non>violence, were

beaten, arrested, and dragged into truc1s in which they were driven miles

away and dumped in the wilderness



inally on January , %&&%, the seven>member team began an indenite

hunger stri1e +wo days earlier 2aba Amte had himself committed to a sit>in

unto death As tension rose, Indian and international press, +, and

documentary crews increased their coverage @nvironmental activists

increased pressure on )ashington

0ha1en by the unfavorable news coverage, the )orld 2an1 announced it

would institute an Independent !eview of the 0ardar 0arovar pro$ects +he

review was the rst of its 1ind and included sweeping mandates and

oversight procedures It may have been the rst time in the history of the

)orld 2an1 that a people's movement in"uenced their policy decisions

Medha Pat1ar and others at a silent protest

Medha Pat1ar and others at a silent protest

9n January E(, the fasters ended their hunger stri1e after EE days without

food Medha Pat1ar, one of those fasting, was near death +he short>term

victory was bittersweet6 many were distrustful of the )orld 2an1, but they

returned home with the other protesters

After some claimed the end of the hunger stri1e to be a victory for the Indian

government, N2A protesters claimed to stay in villages until drowning fromthe 0ardar 0arovar reservoir In response, the government banned Pat1ar and

other activists from the villages during the monsoon, and prohibited the

villagers from holding anti>dam protests +he N2A deed the bans, and

hundreds of their supporters were arrested during the monsoon months

nown as 'monsoon satyagrahas,' hundreds of individuals refused to move as

rising waters entered elds and homes In most of the monsoon satyagrahas,

police physically dragged people out of "ooding areas in an attempt to rob

the protest of its symbolic power Arrests, beatings, and detentions rose in

Madhya Pradesh, where many declared readiness for monsoon satyagraha

between %&&E and %&&-

International human rights N#9s began documenting abuses against N2A

activists A June %&&E report by Duman !ights )atch noted increases in

arbitrary arrests, illegal detentions, beatings, rape and other forms of

physical abuses 0ome reports document Indian police shooting and 1illing

individuals during forced relocation 9ther N#9s wor1ed to form the Narmada



International Duman !ights Panel, which garnered support of 4E

environmental and human rights N#9s representing %C countries

+he 2an1's Independent !eview, 1nown as the Morse Bommission, issued its

report in June %&&E +he report e5posed the 2an1's violation of its own

policies and recommended drastic reform of the relocation programs and

environmental assessment It warned that opposition to the dam was so

strong in the aected villages that the authorities would have to use

Kunacceptable meansK to get the dam built Dowever, the 2an1 reassured the

Indian government it would continue support, but only if the government met

benchmar1s for reform

In response to the Morse Bommission's report, environmental activists wrote

an open letter to )orld 2an1 President ?ewis Preston, which they published

as a full>page advertisement in the ?ondon inancial +imes It warned that if

the 2an1 refused to withdraw funding for 0ardar 0arovar then N#9s would

launch a campaign to cut government funding of the 2an1 +he letter was

endorsed by E/. N#9s and coalitions from - countries 0imilar actions were

ta1en in the )ashington Post and the New Hor1 +imes

A ebruary %&&- KPeoples' !eferendumK in the Narmada alley, carried out by

the N2A, organi<ed over EE,/.. families in opposition to forced relocation

Medha Pat1ar

Medha Pat1ar

)ith mounting pressure from N2A, other citi<en activists, and international

N#9s and @conomic unds, the Indian government soon canceled the

remaining loans 1nowing that it could not meet the 2an1's guidelines, thus

ending support from the )orld 2an1 for the 0ardar 0arovar dam +he

controversy led to the creation of the )orld 2an1 Inspection Panel in %&&- LIt

was a milestone for the human rights movement and the rst mechanism

established to enable local groups to challenge )orld 2an1 pro$ects :Narula;

)hile the withdrawal of the )orld 2an1 was a milestone accomplishment for

N2A and social movements across the globe, it was unfortunately not the end

of the Narmada dam struggle @ven without the )orld 2an1's support, the



Indian government pledged to continue the dam pro$ect with its own funds

+he 2an1's withdrawal in %&&- aected dam construction much less than

anticipated urther, the withdrawal reduced the Indian government's

accountability to the outside world +he campaign against the dam refocused

their eort on the 0upreme Bourt of India 9ne criticism of N2A's strategy is

that it avoided the 0upreme Bourt until the withdrawal of the )orld 2an1 leftthem no choice

Bonstruction continues to this day :March E.%.; +he 0ardar 0arovar dam has

already displaced well over -E.,... people, with over a million aected by

related canal systems and other pro$ects N2A continues direct action and

legal processes with international involvement to stop further dam

construction on the Narmada

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narmada bachaao andolan