BBC News Online: World: South Asia

Narmada dam protest winds up

A group of activists led by best-selling Indian author Arundhati Roy is on its way back to Delhi at the end of a six-day rally to protest against a controversial dam project.

The Rally for the Valley, which set off last week, reached the village of Domkhedi on the banks of the River Narmada on Tuesday night.

The rally was a last-ditch effort to stop the dam being filled, but its catchment areas have already started to fill with water.

The group - made up of some 500 activists, artists and celebrities - passed through the village of Jalsindhi, the first area in Madhya Pradesh to be submerged by waters filling the dam, before reaching Domkhedi.

Hundreds and thousand of people gathered on the banks of the Narmada to show their support for the group, chanting slogans saying "nobody will move, the dam will not be constructed".

The state authorities said extra police and security were put in place after Ms Roy said she felt personally threatened by pro-dam activists.

Supporters of the dam argue that the water and power it will provide will be crucial for the entire region, spanning four states in the west of the country (Gujarat, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra).

But Ms Roy and her group say more than 200 villages will be submerged and nearly a million people displaced by the dam waters.

Controversy has surrounded the dam project since its inception more than ten years ago.

This dam is the first of a series of 30 which will be built on the Narmada river.

Relevant Stories

'Rally for the Valley' (01 Aug 99 | South Asia)
Narmada: A history of controversy (29 Jul 99 | South Asia)
Narmada: The threat to local villages (29 Jul 99 | South Asia)
Top novelist funds anti-dam campaign (26 Jun 99 | South Asia)
Sardar Sarovar dam: At what price progress? (23 Mar 98 | Water Week)

Internet Links

Arundhati Roy writes about the Narmada valley
Environmental Defence Fund on the Sardar Sarovar Dam
Gujarat Chief Minister
International Rivers Network
Friends of the Narmada River

The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.

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