The Late Pervi (bai)

Pervi, the firebrand adivasi woman leader of the Khedut Mazdoor Chetna Sangathan and the Narmada Bachao Andolan, fearlessly faced the rising waters of the Sardar Sarovar Dam every year for many years but refused to move out of one of the most picturesque villages, Jalsindhi, on the banks of the Narmada.

Pervi’s house and prime agricultural lands were submerged by the dam waters but she defied the state with all her strength till her last breath and did not move out of Jalsindhi.  She is one of the very articulate woman leaders of the struggle, and the following short clip comprises of excerpts from her three-hour long interview which provides us with a history of the Narmada struggle focused mainly on the villages falling in the SSP submergence zone in Alirajpur district of Madhya Pradesh and impact of SSP on the lives of people and environment in this region. Her longer interview is also part of this website.

However in this short clip, Pervi describes the devastation caused by the Sardar Sarovar, how the dam is choking the river and its impact on the people, the forest, the environment, the wild life, the domestic animals and the river itself. She says that for others, the dam may be a life line but for the people living on the banks of the mighty Narmada, the dam is a death noose.

Clip Duration:
00:01:30

Language:
Audio in Bhilali, Subtitles in English

Subtitles can be switched on and off by clicking ‘CC’ button at the bottom right of the video