The Late Prabhubhai Tadvi

“Earlier, there were hyenas and tigers here also, at Waghadia. But after the Kevadia colony was built, the forest has slowly shrunk. There has been extensive deforestation. Contractors have cut down the forest. As and when required for their employees, they would cut down the forest and expand the (Kevadia) colony. Thus, the forest has shrunk … but in those days, there was a lot of forest cover. Our cattle used to graze in the forest also. There were no restrictions back then. But nowadays the forest is just plantations. And in those days people  used to get very good fish from the river. Different varieties of fish were available back then. In those days, we used only nets and basket traps. People had a different method to catch shrimp. People built bamboo traps and used these to catch shrimps. Fish was available in plenty during the rainy season, particularly shrimp. But it is not so nowadays…The silt (from the river) would spread all over our farms during monsoon and this renewed the land and the productivity of all crops was high. But now, after the dam has been constructed, all the silt is trapped behind the dam wall and there is more and more soil erosion every year…”

Prabhubhai Tadvi

Prabhubhai Tadvi was one of the tallest figures of the Narmada Bachao Andolan. For the longest time,  the NBA office functioned from Prabhubhai’s home in the village Waghadia close to the dam site, right in the middle of the bastion that the dam builders had built. Because of this, Prabhubhai and his family had to face unprecedented pressure from and intimidation by the state. Prabhubhai’s home would often be surrounded by hundreds of police and he would be put under house arrest. And in spite of all this, Prabhubhai remained undeterred and fought fearlessly against the dam in Gujarat, in a state where a very significant part of the civil society considered the Sardar Sarovar dam as the state’s lifeline. All the lands of Prabhubhai’s village Waghadia except for the temple lands were acquired for the Sardar Sarovar Project Colony,  the Kevadia Colony in 1961 itself. And since then, the people have been living on the periphery of their own acquired lands without any rehabilitation. In this clip, Prabhubhai talks of the life his people led in his village Waghadia on the banks of the Narmada River before their lives were disrupted with the coming of the Sardar Sarovar dam and Kevadia Colony. 

The photos in this clip are from in and around Waghadia, Kevadia Colony and some photos are of areas further upstream and downstream of the Dam. 

Interview Duration:
00:43:44

Language:
Hindi , Subtitles in English

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