Greenpeace slams dam’s opening

The NGO said the Sardar Sarovar Project, which was dedicated to the nation by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, would not bring any development for advasis in the absence of a just and fair rehabilitation programme. 

Greenpeace India’s executive director Ravi Chellam said as part of civil society, they condemned the inauguration of the Sardar Sarovar Dam and stood in solidarity with the Narmada Bacchao Andolan (NBA) which “displayed incredible courage and resilience, even now as they refuse to leave their homes by protesting peacefully in ‘Jal Satyagraha’”. 

The project “signals ruin not development for tens of thousands of unsuspecting, hapless and poor farmers and Advasis, in the absence of a just, genuine and fair rehabilitation programme”, it said. 

The NGO said the “so-called development project” comes at an immeasurable cost when considered in terms of the dislocation and debasement caused to countless men, women and children, their hearths and homes, besides the destruction of forests, biodiversity and ecosystems.