Submergence village Nisarpur, Madhya Pradesh (M.P.).
Parasmal Karnavat has been at the forefront of the struggle against the big dam on Narmada. Here, he talks about the rise and fall of the powerful movement, the Nimad Bachao Andolan, the struggle 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. An active member of Nimad Bachao Andolan and the founding member of Narmada Ghati Navnirman Samiti (NGNS), a people’s organisation which also opposed the high dams on the Narmada, Parasmalji’s interview is special to understand the emergence of the early resistance to the large dams on the River Narmada in M.P. in the 1970s and 1980s.
As the sarpanch (headman) of Nisarpur, Parasmalji was one of the first few persons from the dam affected areas to become active on the issue of Sardar Sarovar Project (SSP) and its implications for the 193 submergence villages of M.P. Parasmalji narrates the history from the time Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru laid the foundation stone of a much smaller dam (161 feet) at Navagam, Gujarat to the setting up of Khosla commission that proposed a much higher dam at 530 feet in Gujarat. He explains the interstate water dispute that emerged among the party states, the setting up of the NWDT while Indira Gandhi was the Prime Minister of India to the declaration of the NWDT award in 1979 soon after Morarjibhai Desai became the Prime Minister of India in 1977. He explains the process and the role played out by the Janta Party Government and Prime Minister Morarji Desai in declaring a much bigger dam than envisaged by Pandit Nehru at Navagam in 1961. He talks of the important players of the Nimad Bachao Andolan as well as those active in NGNS in the 1970s and early 1980s. This includes the role played by Gandhians such as Prabhakarji Mandlik, Kashinathji Trivedi, Harivallabh Parikh, politicians like Arjun Singh, Virendrakumar Saklecha, etc. He talks of the role of the Supreme Court at the time of the setting up and functioning of the NWDT. This interview is important to understand the subsequent emergence of the Narmada Bachao Andolan.
Interview Duration:
1:22:11
Language:
Audio in Hindi, Subtitles in English
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