Submergence Village Pipri, Madhya Pradesh
Shantaben Yadav is one of the key women leaders of the Narmada Bachao Andolan (NBA). She has played a very important role in the movement including sitting on an indefinite fast at the Long March of the NBA at Gujarat – Madhya Pradesh border at Ferkuva, in the year 1990-91.
While for the Adivasis, the River Narmada is a mother, the giver, for the Hindus, like the River Ganga the River Narmada is a Goddess. Considered to be the daughter of Shiva, every stone on the banks of the Narmada is considered a Shivlinga. As per the Hindu belief, while it is necessary to bathe in the Ganga to absolve oneself of all sins, the mere sight of the Narmada is enough to absolve one of all sins. It is therefore no surprise that there is a unique Hindu spiritual tradition, possibly the only one of its kind in the world, where thousands of Hindus undertake circumambulation of the River Narmada, the Goddess incarnate. This age old tradition of Narmada Parikrama, when done fully is of about 2600 kilometres. Not to carry any worldly possessions has been the rule followed by the Parikramavasis, and the villagers on the banks of the river considered providing for the Parikramavasis a pious deed.
With their lives deeply attached with the Narmada, the people on the banks of this mighty River, naturally put up a great deal of resistance against these mega dams not just to save their livelihood but to protect one of the richest River Valley civilisations in the country.
Shantaben, in this clip explains the many different facets of the lives of the people on the banks of the Narmada River and the bond that people share with the river. Shantaben explaining how the mega Sardar Sarovar dam has impacted the river itself says, “ Yes, it (Dam) has had an impact on the river…They have started impounding more water…Lot of silt has also accumulated there, up to this height, so it is difficult now to take bath in the Narmada. Because of all that dirt, the water is available only at the edge. It has become very difficult to take a bath, but what to do? If they have done this to Mother Narmada, what can we do? So, we fold our hands before the mother (Narmada), and say, “O Mother! Now it’s up to you to look after yourself. We can’t do more than what we are doing…we are fighting to the best of our abilities. But what can we do?” The water looks greener…It is less tasty to drink then earlier days…Had the river kept flowing, the waste would have been washed away, but now it gets stuck in the (stagnant) water, and because of that, the water of the river becomes dirty…Earlier the water was very clean and transparent, and the flow of the river could be seen, the water would make a flowing sound – kal kal, kal kal. You could hear the sound… The water was very clean earlier, but now it looks green and dirty… That’s how it is.
Interview Duration:
00:25:31
Language:
Audio in Nimadi, Subtitles in English
Subtitles can be switched on and off by clicking ‘CC’ button at the bottom right of the video