Medha sets April 9 deadline for release of report on Dam

New Delhi, Apr 4: Narmada Bachao Andolan (NBA) leader Medha Patkar today said she would end her indefinite hunger strike only after the government made public, by April 9, its on the-spot-study report about the Sardar Sarovar Dam.

Ms Patkar conveyed this to Union Water Resources Minister Saifuddin Soz when he met her to try and persuade her end the fast in view of her deteriorating health on the seventh day of the hunger strike.

She remained adamant on her demand of rehabilitation of all families displaced by the dam and abandoning of the plan to raise its height by another ten metres.

Even the Minister's assurance that he will travel to the dam site to take stock of the NBA demands did not deter Ms Patkar and her two colleagues who are on hunger strike with her.

Mr Soz reaffirmed the government's commitment to ensure that rehabilitation of the project affected families (PAFs) of the dam would be "done fully and satisfactorily" before submergence in consonance with the Supreme Court Orders.Mr Soz reaffirmed the government's commitment to ensure that rehabilitation of the project affected families (PAFs) of the dam would be "done fully and satisfactorily" before submergence in consonance with the Supreme Court Orders.

Accordingly, A team comprising Mr Soz, Minister for Social Justice and Empowerment Meira Kumar and Minister of State in Prime Minister's Office Prithviraj Chauhan would visit the affected families in the villages and the rehabilitation sites.

The team would particularly take note of the areas where rehabilitation has not been done as indicated in the NBA in its memorandum to the Ministry of Water Resources, an official release said here tonight.

The NBA and their representatives would also represent their concerns before the team.

Meanwhile, Ms Patkar continued to receivea stream of visitors who extended solidarity with her. They included former Prime Minister V P Singh, Booker Prize-winning author and anti-dam activist Arundhati Roy, women's rights activist Mohini Giri, socialist leaders Surendra Mohan and Manju Mohan and ultra Left wing leader Kumudini Pati.

Yesterday, Ms Patkar had rejected a glass of fruit juice Prime Minister Manmohan Singh sent to her saying she would not compromise the cause of people being uprooted for a dam in Narmada Valley.

The NBA has been...picking up para eight of DI 27, Agitation-Medha Patkar.

UNI