Rukmani (Kaki) Patidar

“The Maheshwar struggle is also against a dam. The Maheshwar project is very similar to the Sardar Sarovar Project. So, we had to go there. We had to lend support. If we just cling to Sardar Sarovar, then that dam would be built. They (those affected by Maheshwar dam) are also our people. We have to support them too. We have to work everywhere.”

Rukmani (Kaki)

In her interview Rukmikaki explains the significance of the NBA expanding its work area from the Sardar Sarovar Project area to include areas affected by the other dams in the Narmada Valley and describes her role in building a powerful people’s resistance movement against the Maheshwar Hydro Power project.  She also talks about the role played by the other NBA activists in this struggle and mobilising the people affected by the Maheshwar dam. She talks of the many innovative and powerful programs taken up against the Maheshwar dam, including the capture of the dam site, blocking roads so that the dam material does not reach the dam site, the state repression that the people faced, taking over of the jail premises and other details of this very successful struggle.

This interview on the website is the only one that throws light on a struggle other than the one against the SSP, namely the Maheshwar dam struggle. It is important because it brings out that the core members of the NBA helped build struggles against other dams on the River Narmada on the basis of the experience and insights they had gained from the struggle against the SSP. 

Interview Duration: 00:38:00

Language: Hindi, Subtitles in English

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