Sardar Sarovar Dam displaced demonstrate in Bhopal

Bhopal, July 12 : Hundreds of villagers who have been displaced by the controversial Sardar Sarovar Dam, staged a demonstration here on Friday and demanded an adequate rehabilitation package.

Protesters said they would not leave their village till their demands were met.

"We have been protesting for so many years. Our lands, wells are sinking.e have staged this demonstration to inform the government that unless we are rehabilitated, we are not going to leave our villages," said Malati, a displaced villager.

"We will continue our agitation even if we have to give up our lives. We do not want money. Whether you keep the dam or destroy it, we don't care, give us space to live," said Ganga Bai, a displaced villager.

Authorities have hailed the completion of the Sardar Sarovar Dam as an answer to ending problems of thirst, irrigation and power in the vast and parched regions in the west of the country.

Authorities say the dam will connect an 86,000-kilometre network of canals and help to irrigate 1.8 million hectares of farm land and provide drinking water to 20 million people in Gujarat, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra.

It will also help in flood control and its two power plants are expected to generate 1,450 MW of peak power.

The Sardar Sarovar Dam project has attracted controversy for more than a decade. It is a huge project, involving thousands of hectares of land and has displaced over three lakh families.

The construction of the dam was begun in 1987, but it soon became the focus of one of the world's longest social and environmental campaigns.

ANI