Soz silence raises NBA's hopes; Modi protests

New Delhi, Apr 10 (UNI) Three union ministers who toured Narmada Valley for a spot study of rehabilitation of the dam-displaced people dithered on making their findings public even as NBA leader Medha Patkar stuck to her hunger strike for the 13th day today.

The team -- comprising Union Water Resources Minister Saifuddin Soz, Social Welfare Minister Meira Kumar and Minister of State in the Prime Minister's office Prithviraj Chavan -- met the PM in the morning and briefed him about its findings, official sources said.

The Ministers, however, did not submit any report on the subject to the PM, as was earlier expected, they said.

NBA leaders said the continued silence of the ministerial team betrayed their fear of admitting the Government's failures on the rehabilitation front.

''On March 10, Prof Soz had stated that he was not satisfied with the situation of rehabilitation and felt that the clearance given by the Narmada Control Authority to raise the dam height was premature. His suspicion has now been confirmed by what he saw in the Valley,'' said the NBA's Deepti Bhatnagar.

The reluctance of the ministerial team to make its findings public appeared to cause discomfiture in the BJP as well which has been strongly projecting the SSP among water-starved farmers in Gujarat.

Speaking in Surat yesterday, Leader of the Opposition L K Advani termed the NBA protest as ''unfair''.

''Construction of Sardar Sarovar Project is a great wish of the people of Gujarat and it is not fair to oppose it ... the verdict of the Supreme Court on increasing the height of the dam should be accepted by everyone,'' he said.

Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi and GPCC Chief Bharatsinh Solanki were among those who joined Narmada Abhiyan activists on a dharna at the Sabarmati Ashram in Ahmedabad today in support of the dam.

Mr Modi rubbished the NBA's charges on the rehabilitation issue and hoped Prime Minister Manmohan Singh would take a judicious stand in the matter.

According to an Ahmedabad report, Leader of the Opposition in the Assembly Arjun Modhvadia said Narmada is the lifeline of Gujarat and the Congress and the BJP would unitedly fight opponents of the SSP.

The Soz team had made a whistlestop tour to parts of the Valley in Madhya Pradesh last Friday on the PM's directive following widespread public outcry over the fate of Ms Patkar, Jamsingh Nargave and Bhagwatibai.

Police had forcibly removed X X X (EDS: Here picking up from para five of DI 68, Agitation-Narmada-Soz Team).

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