M'shtra not against increasing height of Dam: CM

Mumbai, Apr 20: Maharashtra is not opposing the increase in the height of the Sardar Sarovar Dam on the Narbada river, but its policy is to first rehabiliate the project affected people (PAPs), Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh told the Legislative Council today.

Replying to queries of Vinod Tavade (BJP) and Madhukar Sarpotdar (Sena) on his statment about the rehabilitation of the PAPs, Mr Deshmukh said the state government, while not against the increase in dam height to 121 metres, is committed to rehabilitate the affected poople.

He said of the 2,730 families to be affected with the dam being raised to 121 people, 2,400 families have already taken possession of the land allotted to them. The remaining 330 are yet to take the land.

Referring to the recent meeting in Delhi on the Sardar Sarovar Project, Mr Deshmukh said Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivrajsingh Chouhan was under pressure from his Gujarat counter-part.

He said that Madhya Pradesh did not complete the work of rehabilitation of PAPs.

He also said that a three-member committee appointed by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had surveyed the rehabilitation process of Madhya Pradesh.

UNI