Mahesh (Bhai) Patel

“When the issue of storing the water behind the dam came up, we realised that the villages of Gujarat and Maharashtra would be submerged. The first villages to be submerged in Gujarat was Vadgam and in Maharashtra, Manibeli… I am a nature lover, so I thought that I would like to spend some time at a place with such natural beauty. And, I had heard about the Shoolpaneshwar temple, where Lord Shiva had himself appeared in the form of a shiv-ling. I had also heard about the Triveni Sangam (confluence of three rivers). So, I thought that I should spend some time at such a place and then let us see what happens…We had a small boat, and we used to go across the river and come back in that boat. There was a lot of natural beauty there, there were dense forests, and we got to see several wild animals too. It was very peaceful there, no noise, no sound, no interference from the outside world. It was a very joyful experience for us. There was an interior village called Deora. It was named so because the Dev River originates from this village. I travelled 20-25 kms deep inside the forest, and when we stayed at one of the villages during the night, I experienced, what can be called heavenly happiness. This was because there was so much peace and silence there. Besides the sound of an odd aeroplane passing over, you couldn’t hear any outside sound at all. There were just the natural sounds of birds and wild animals. To stay amidst all that was a very pleasant experience for me…The peace and silence there was so profound that it is no wonder that those of us who live in the rush of the cities in this machine and Kaliyuga age, undergo an experience of peace and happiness that is unparallelled. Then, there was the Shoolpaneshwar Temple, and the Triveni Sangam of the Dev, Bhanumati and Narmada rivers. There was a Shiva temple on this side of Dev River and the Ranchod temple on the other side of the river…So, that place had a lot of significance, and along with that, there was bounty of nature. For example, the rivers used to flow even during the summers, there were rivulets, there were rivulets in flow at different locations in the area. Then there was the flora and fauna in the area, the different roots and tubers…Staying continuously for 15 days or a month at a place where there is no disturbance at all, where you are so close to nature, is a very different experience, and that is the kind of experience I had there in Manibeli. Nowhere else have I had such an experience. And then I went from Manibeli to Dhankhedi, Chimalkhedi, Sinduri, which were even more in the interior…I spent a night at each of these villages, and the peace I experienced there, I haven’t found such peace anywhere else till now… The Narmada river flows between the Satpura and Vindhyachal mountain ranges, and it originates at Amarkantak and flows into the sea at Bharuch. The water from 900 rivulets and 99 tributaries on both of its banks flows into the river, and this water than meets the ocean. The villages along its banks and their lands have been there for the past thousands of years, … To destroy this whole region and To dam the river…to dam this river by building the five dams, from Bargi to Sardar Sarovar including Narmada Sagar, Omkareshwar and Maheshwar in between…would completely destroy the very nature/form of the river and would also completely destroy the villages and the fertile lands along the river banks… And after we returned from there, after about two days or a week later we got the news that water had entered the Shoolpaneshwar temple and half the temple was under water…”, Maheshbhai Patel   

Maheshbhai can be counted among those leaders of the Narmada Bachao Andolan who had the tallest stature within the movement. His contribution in building and strengthening the movement is unprecedented. Maheshbhai, a leader deeply respected across communities in the submergence villages of SSP, worked full time in the NBA for several years. Not just him, but his entire family including his mother, wife and children have played a very important role in the NBA. Maheshbhai’s own village Kundia has been severely affected by the SSP. The short clip posted below is taken rom from Maheshbhai’s larger interview where he narrates the divinity of the Shoolpaneshwar temple which was situated on the banks of the river Narmada at Manibeli and was submerged by the Sardar Sarovar Dam.  This short clip is important for all those who wish to understand how dams have destroyed our historical, cultural and ecologically significant places in the name of development.

Interview Duration:
0:15:57

Language:
Hindi, Subtitles in English

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