Submergence village Nisarpur, Madhya Pradesh (M.P.).
~3 minutes
Parasmalji Karnavat has been in the forefront of the struggle against big dams on the Narmada. Here, he talks about the rise and fall of the Nimad Bachao Andolan, a powerful movement that emerged in the Nimad region of M.P. after the declaration of Narmada Water Dispute Tribunal (NWDT) award in 1979.
The main demand of the Nimad Bachao Andolan was a reduction in the height of the Sardar Sarovar dam. Parasmalji was an active member of the Nimad Bachao Andolan and a founding member of the Narmada Ghati Navnirman Samiti (NGNS), a people’s organisation which also opposed high dams on the Narmada. His interview is especially important in understanding the early resistance to the large dams on the Narmada that emerged in M.P. in the 1970s and 1980s.
Parasmalji was the sarpanch (headman) of Nisarpur village, and one of the few persons from the dam affected areas who realised very early the implications of the Sardar Sarovar Project (SSP) for the 193 villages of M.P. which it was to submerge. Parasmalji, who took up the issue right from those early days, narrates the history from the time Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru laid the foundation stone of a much smaller dam (161 feet high) at Navagam, Gujarat. He tells us about the setting up of the Khosla commission which proposed a much higher, 530 feet dam in Gujarat. He explains how disputes emerged among the party states, turning it into an interstate water dispute necessitating the setting up of the NWDT during Indira Gandhi’s Prime Ministership which declared its award in 1979 a couple of years after Morarjibhai Desai became Prime Minister. He explains the role played by the Janata Party Government and Prime Minister Morarjibhai Desai in proposing a much bigger dam than the Navagam dam envisaged by Pandit Nehru in 1961. He also talks about those who played an important role in the Nimad Bachao Andolan as well as those in the NGNS in the 1970s and early 1980s. He highlights the role played by Gandhians such as Prabhakarji Mandlik, Kashinathji Trivedi, Harivallabh Parikh, and politicians like Arjun Singh, Virendrakumar Saklecha, and others. He talks of the struggle by the people in the submergence zone of SSP in M.P. soon after the announcement of the NWDT award and even before, from local level right up to the Supreme Court which was approached by them. He talks about the meetings people had with political leaders in which he too was present and their response; the role played by the Supreme Court when they approached the same regarding the setting up and functioning of the NWDT, etc. This interview is important in understanding the struggle before and the subsequent emergence of the Narmada Bachao Andolan.
Interview Duration:
1:22:11
Language:
Audio in Hindi, Subtitles in English
Subtitles can be switched on and off by clicking ‘CC’ button at the bottom right of the video
For those who wish to have further details of the history of the Sardar Sarovar Project as explained by Morarjibhai Desai in his autobiography titled, ‘Maru Jeevan Vrutant’, may read its translated excerpts here