Development and Displacement

"If you are to suffer, you should suffer in the interest of the country.”

  - Jawaharlal Nehru, speaking to villagers who were to be displaced by the Hirakud Dam, 1948.

Development induced displacement

Since India's independence in 1947, there has been a surge of economic development activities in the form of massive infrastructure development projects such as the construction of dams for power and irrigation, the building of roads, urbanization, mining, building of thermal power plants, etc. Proponents of large dams argue that only these types of massive projects can improve India's economy and the lives of millions of people. But the flip side of this sort of development is that it has displaced more than 42 million people in the country.

            

Doomed by Displacement-A Short Film on the displaced affected by Hirakud Dam 

Dams for irrigation and hydropower are a major cause of such forced displacement. World over “approximately fifteen million people each year are forced to leave their homes following big development projects.” [Bogumil Terminski, Environmentally Induced Displacement. Theoretical Frameworks and Current Challenges, Liege, 2012].

The poorest and most marginalized people are generally hit the hardest by displacement, most often without adequate compensation. Many displaced families have been displaced three or four times. “In India, 50 million people have been displaced in the last 50 years in the name of ‘national’ interest“. [Parshuram Ray, Development Induced Displacement in India, SARWATCH Vol. 2 No. 1 July 2000).

Official figures of the number of displaced people are just underestimates. This is usually done to present a good cost benefit ratio to project clearance agencies and funders. The World Bank has put the number of people displaced by the Farakka Super Thermal Power plant in West Bengal as 63325 while Indian government figures suggest that no one was displaced. [Walter Fernandes, Displacement - What is all the fuss about? Humanscape, November 1999]. In the case of the Bargi dam, the number of villages submerged increased from the initial figure of 101 to 162. Likewise, in the case of various other large dams in the country, the number of submerged villages has increased and estimates of displaced villages have failed, which lead to unplanned displacement.

History of dams and displacement

Most of the displacement in India is due to the construction of large dams. The lives and livelihoods of millions of displaced people across the country have been destroyed, but the state governments are still not interested in addressing basic issues related to the displaced. “The millions of displaced people in India are nothing but refugees of an unacknowledged war.”(Arundhati Roy, The Greater Common Good, Frontline, June 4, 1999).

The callous attitude of the state can be attributed to the fact that “most displaced persons are assetless rural poor like landless labourers and small and marginal farmers (Gandhi’s last man). The tribals who comprise 8.08% of India’s population are estimated to be more than 40% of the displaced population. Dalits constitute 20% of displaced persons.” [Walter Fernandes, Displacement - What is all the fuss about? Humanscape, November 1999]

     

From Development To Displacement- A short film on the displacement due to Bargi dam, Madhya Pradesh

Displacements due to dams and canals have been traumatic and dehumanising. The displaced family's livelihood, their family, kinship systems, cultural identity and informal social networks were badly affected and disrupted.The condition of the women is even more traumatic. Lack of policy framework and social securities has made them insecure and psychologically very weak.

The monetary compensation paid to the displaced was not enough to sustain their livelihoods. The lame assurances by the government has never become a reality and it has lead to tragic consequences. Large-scale dam building has been able to deliver very little in terms of benefits. Many projects are able to irrigate just 20% of the command area but the harm they do to the environment and people is immense.

Rehabilitation and resettlement: Policy framework

Massive land acquisition has taken place in India since the 1950s to build large projects for irrigation, power, steel and heavy industries. Yet we did not have proper laws to address the rehabilitation and resettlement issues of the displaced. After a long struggle by people’s organisations and environmental groups, the protest against displacement grew violent and the need for a policy and legal framework came into existence in 2007 when the Government of India formulated a national policy for rehabilitation and resettlement by replacing the earlier policy of 2003.

Till date, there is no policy which suggests alternatives for displacement.

In August 2013, the Government of India came up with a comprehensive Land Acquisition and Resettlement and Rehabilitation (LARR) Act, 2013. The Act provides for rehabilitation & resettlement and combines it with land acquisition so the former does not get neglected. The ‘public purpose’ for which land can be acquired by the government is defined.

As per the above legislation, a comprehensive rehabilitation and resettlement package is provided for those who lost their livelihood support which includes the landless and tenants. The Act also provides for schools and playgrounds, health centers, roads and electric connections and assured sources of safe drinking water for each family. The role of the gram sabha has been clearly stressed and the government has to consult them. The Government has to also comply with other laws like Panchayat (Extension to the Scheduled Areas) Act (PESA), 1996; the Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006; and Land Transfer Regulations in Schedule V (Tribal) Areas.

Damning the dam: Case of Narmada Bachao Andolan

Narmada Bachao Andolan (NBA), a struggle against several major dams across the Narmada river in the states of Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh is a leading anti-dam movement in the world. The government went ahead with the decision of the Narmada Water Disputes Tribunal (NWDT) in 1979 to construct some 30 major, 135 medium and 3000 small dams. The locals opposed the construction of the large dams as the government had not only flouted environmental norms, but also did not have a rehabilitation policy in place then. The dams were displacing large numbers of poor (dalits and tribals). The main flash point of the movement was on the question of raising the height of the Sardar Sarovar Dam in Gujarat.

A Narmada Diary: Documentary by Anand Patwardhan

The dam proponents were pushing it because it would generate water (for irrigation and drinking water) and much needed power for development purposes. Activists like Medha Patkar who set up NBA in 1989, provided a strong critique to the project by the Narmada Valley Development Authority (NVDA). They questioned the project’s cost-benefit analysis, it’s hydrologic and seismicity- related assumptions and felt that it was iniquitous and did not give fair compensation to the displaced. The World Bank was forced to do an independent review (also known as the Morse Commission) of the project in 1991. The Commission gave an adverse report following which the Government of India pulled out of the loan agreement with the World Bank. The Supreme Court’s decision of 2000 on raising the height of the Sardar Sarovar Dam gave a stimulus to the construction of the dam in ‘national interest’. The drought-prone areas of Gujarat like Kutch and Saurashtra are yet to get water from the project.

Alternative solutions

There are various cheap and effective solutions available as an alternate to dams. These alternative models, which include reviving traditional systems of water harvesting in various parts of Rajasthan and other parts of India, has changed the economy of farmers and also addressed drinking water problems in the region. There is enough scope for applying rainwater harvesting models and building small check dams for storing water to bring a significant amount of in the lives of millions.

References 

http://www.countercurrents.org/en-jensen220904.html 

http://www.narmada.org/gcg/gcg.html 

Term Path Alias

/topics/development-and-displacement

Featured Articles
February 5, 2024 Navigating sustainable development in the wake of legal battles and environmental challenges
The heavy rains and landslides in 2023 have highlighted the city's inability to bear the burden of additional population (Image: Vincent Desjardins; CC BY 2.0 DEED)
June 23, 2022 Save the Children helps people stranded in deadly flooding
Millions affected after deadly floods affect the two countries (Image: Save the Children)
December 26, 2019 Policy matters this week
The Mandovi river disputed between Karnataka and Goa (Source: IWP Flickr Photos)
December 6, 2019 A report by the India Rivers Forum highlights the need to focus further than the main stem of the Ganga river.
Distant snow clad mountains, the smaller hills and the Ganga river (Image: Srimoyee Banerjee, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0)
Bellandur lake, Bangalore - Landfill activity and hinterland development - Updates from Praja
Massive land fill operation seems to be on in the Bellandur Lake bed area. Posted on 19 May, 2011 07:09 PM

 Marking the exact location on the map.  It’s not really the lake itself, but the lake bed area on the right side of the bund/road adjoining the lake.

The agricultural land below the lake abutment forming the Bellandur Lake is being developed for residential / commercial use as the case may be. It is the present owners’ choice to convert agricultural land into residential / commercial purposes as it has now come within BBMP area. Some who may not like to convert have that choice too.

Bellandur lake, Bangalore - Landfill activity and hinterland development - Updates from Praja

Gujarat’s agricultural growth story: Reality check and important lessons for water management – A paper by Institute for Resource Analysis and Policy
This paper attempts a reality check on the ‘miracle growth’ in Gujarat’s agricultural production by looking at the gross value of the outputs from agriculture Posted on 13 May, 2011 07:57 PM

 The agricultural ‘growth’ seen in the recent past in Gujarat is nothing but a good recovery from a major dip in production occurred during the drought years of 1999 and 2000, because of four consecutive years of successful monsoon and bulk water transfer through the Sardar Sarovar project. The real ‘miracle growth’ in Gujarat’s agriculture appears to have occurred during the period from 1988 to 1998.

Polavaram fraud - The Polavaram dam on the Godavari could displace 400,000 people and submerge nearly 4,000 hectares of forest land - Article from Down To Earth
The Polavaram dam on the Godavari could displace 400,000 people and submerge nearly 4,000 hectares of forestland. Posted on 06 May, 2011 08:33 PM

 Most of the people threatened to be displaced cannot be relocated until their rights over forestland are recognized under the Forest Rights Act. How did the Andhra Pradesh government meet this immense challenge? It quietly told the Union environment and forests ministry that all claims have been settled.

The ministry gave forest clearance to the project last year. Now over 50 villages have written to the ministry, saying their forest rights have not been settled. Richard Mahapatra visited the villages and found the state had indeed lied.

Following similar complaints, the ministry had scrapped Vedanta’s proposal to mine Niyamgiri hills and withheld forest clearance to the POSCO steel plant in Odisha. Will it apply the same yardstick to Polavaram?

Residents of Teladibbalu did not know they had forest rights. The village is in the dam’s submergence zone and accessible only by boat (Photo: G Srinivas).Residents of Teladibbalu did not know they had forest rights. The village is in the dam’s submergence zone and accessible only by boat. (Photo: G Srinivas).

Development of training module for water safety plan in urban areas - A document by ESCI
A new Risk Management tool to improve Water Safety Plan
Posted on 20 Apr, 2011 03:48 AM

A Water Safety Plan (WSP) is an improved risk management tool designed to ensure the delivery of safe drinking water. It identifies hazards, means to control them, means and actions to identify loss of control and its restoration. It comprises system assessment and design, operational monitoring and management plans (including documentation and communication). Water quality guidelines have been issued by the WHO.

Transparent & participatory governance in functioning of the decision-making committees on water resources
This article presents the text of an open letter to Ministry of Water Resources from a group of civil society representatives, 13 April 2011 Posted on 16 Apr, 2011 03:46 PM

To
Shri Salman Khurshid,
Union Minister of Water Resources,
Shramshakti Bhawan,
Rafi Marg,
New Delhi - 110001

2. Secretary, Union Ministry of Water Resources
3. Chairman, Central Water Commission
4. Deputy Chairman, Planning Commission
5. Member (Water), Planning Commission
6. Ms Aruna Roy, Chairperson, Working Group on Transparency, Accountability, Governance at National Advisory Council

Let Pinder river flow free - Thousands gather in people's public hearing and vow to oppose the dam
"There is no place like our Pinder valley. What is Rs. 10- 20 lakhs to us? Have you ever thought about the lakhs worth of salt and grains that you have eaten from this land? Posted on 15 Apr, 2011 05:16 PM

 I pray to all my friends, brothers and sisters to not join the company in turning this valley into a monstrosity!” These are the powerful words by Narmada Devi from Village Padmallah that marked the flavor of a peoples' public hearing on the Devsari HEP.

This public hearing on the 3 April 2011 saw strength of 2000 people from all proposed Devsari HEP affected and surrounding villages of the Pinder valley. The hearing was organized by Bhu Swami Sangharsh Samiti and Matu Jan Sangathan and took place at the Sangam Maidan of Block Deval, Tehsil Tharali, District Chomoli, Uttarakhand. Public hearing at Deval was a peoples' response to the project proponent hearing at Chepdu on 20 January 2011.

 

 

Narmada dam - Land for some, hope for others - A short film from Video Volunteers
VV’s community correspondent Rakesh Khanna is one of the displaced people. In his latest video, Rakesh shares the good news of land distribution Posted on 13 Apr, 2011 10:16 AM

After 3 decades of relentless fighting for rehabilitation, 113 tribal families displaced by Sardar Sarovar Dam on the River Narmada in India’s Madhya Pradesh have finally had their demand fulfilled. The families have received land on which they can now build their homes again. Rakesh says that the development has raised the hopes of thousands of others like him who are still awaiting resettlement.

 

 

Model building bye-laws, developed by the Town & Country Planning Organisation - Ministry of Urban Development (2004)
A guide to help effective implementation for Urban Development. It outlines the dos and don'ts along with the laws and regulations that govern it. Posted on 11 Apr, 2011 03:11 AM

Building bye-laws are a set of standards used to regulate various facets of a building everything from its design to its safety features. In these 'Model Building Bye-Laws', the Town and Country Planning Organisation (TCPO) under the Ministry of Urban Development (MoUD) has created a guide for State Governments, Urban Local Bodies, Development Authorities to help them play a more effective role in enforcing the implementation of the master plans.

Strain on the marine aquatic environmental quality around Mumbai, owing to indiscriminate release of wastewater – Research reports from the National Institute of Oceanography
Unprecedented population growth and industrial development around Bombay Harbour and Thana Creek coupled with heavy port traffic has affected the environmental quality of the Bay. Posted on 10 Apr, 2011 07:21 PM

The first report titled “Heavy metal burden in coastal marine sediments of north west coast of India in relation to pollution” by M A Rokade, University of Mumbai uses the data on contaminants including metals in seawater, marine sediments and biota for the Mumbai- Bassein region, a high

Techno-economic feasibility study of sanitation and sewage management for Pandharpur town, Maharashtra - Ecosan Services Foundation (2009)
Solving Pandharpur's Sanitation Crisis. A study into the Maharashtra's holy town rings out interventions to combat its growing problem of water and sanitation Posted on 10 Apr, 2011 02:15 AM

This study provides interventions to solving the sanitation crisis in the holy town of Pandharpur, situated on the banks of the Chandrabagha/Bhima river, in the state of Maharashtra, which receives more than 1.5 crore devotees annually. On any given day there are approximately 20,000 pilgrims in this Class B town. This vast floating population creates massive sanitation problems leading to environmental and hygiene issues.  The study forms part of the Maharashtra State Pollution Control Board's 'Environmental Improvement Programme at Religious Places in Maharashtra' project.