India Narmada River dam protest

More than fifteen-thousand people have invaded the site of a dam being built on the Narmada River in Madhya Pradesh in central India, to protest over arrangements for rehousing them when their villages are submerged by the dam.

Work on the project, the Maheshwar Dam, has been temporarily suspended.

The protesters say the government is not sticking to the policy of offering land to displaced villagers, and that many were having to accept inadequate monetary compensation.

The Maheshwar Hydro-Electric Company, which is building the dam, said all those displaced would would be given new homes a year before the project is completed.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service