Polavaram Dam- Evicted & harassed మంగళవారం, నవం 18 2008

The last crop
R Uma Maheshwari
R Uma Maheshwari Rama Rao’s field won’t grow food anymore Compensation fails to rehabilitate Polavaram’s displaced The day Boragam Rama Rao saw the fresh stocks of his corn crop crushed by large excavators and crane tractors, he knew he had made that transition—from tribal farmer to tribal ‘beneficiary’. At least until he starts reconstructing his life all over again: with Rs 1.2 lakh and a piece of land as yet uncultivable. Rama Rao is the sarpanch of the Mamidigundi panchayat in Andhra Pradesh’s West Godavari district. He has lost nearly a hectare (ha) of land to Indira Sagar Polavaram dam project across the river Godavari. According to Andhra Pradesh government’s figures, the project will displace 276 villages in Khammam and East and West Godavari districts of the state.
And if the 2001 census is any indicator, 2,37,000 people face displacement—more than 50 per cent of them adivasis. “Officials told us last year that it would take us eight to 10 years for the barrage dam to come up and we would not be evacuated until waters came in. They assured us that we could continue to farm our lands in Mamidigundi and also enjoy the relief and rehabilitation package,” Rama Rao said. This year, his village was among the first villages to accept the relief and rehabilitation package. People regret the deal now. “The government acquired more than 80 ha from our village. We were given barely 65 ha as compensation at the relief and rehabilitation colony in Gunjavaram,” Rama Rao lamented. “Back at Mamidigundi, all my crops were rain-fed. I got 40 bags of paddy per acre as the first and 30 to 40 bags of corn for the second crop. The authorities have not compensated me for the damage to my standing crops because they say I have taken the relief and rehabilitation package. They placed orders of arrest (on charges of criminal trespass on government land) when we went to harvest the last crop. At least they could have allowed us to enjoy that last yield from our land,” he continued. R&R colony At the relief and rehabilitation colony at Gunjavaram, Boragam Buchiraju was supervising the construction of a new home. He was in a rush to complete the job; he had to start preparing the fields (part of the compensation package) a few kilometers away.   The Buchiraju home under construction Buchiraju’s father, Kamaraju, is bit of an exception. No other Mamidigundi resident has begun constructing a home at Gunjavaram. Many have already used up the compensation money in bribing officials, paying back earlier loans and in purchasing immediate necessities. Even Kamaraju has spent Rs 80,000 of the Rs 1.2 lakh given for house construction in just putting up a basement. With the price of bricks, sand, iron and cement hitting the roof in the last few months, many wonder if they will reach that point of laying the foundation. Kamaraju said to begin agricultural activities afresh on the new lands they would need to invest a minimum of Rs 15,000; then there is the cost of seeds, fertilizers and labour. Even the daily bus or shared autorickshaw trips between the relief and rehabilitation land in Gunjavaram and Mamidigundi cost at least Rs 40 a day. “We would have to spend double of what we spent on our fields in Mamidigundi,” Rama Rao said. “Fields in Gunjavaram do not have Mamidigundi’s water retention capacity, he explained and added that the farmers will have to pay three times the labour cost to make the land cultivable. But Kamaraju and Rama Rao are still somewhat fortunate. Consider the plight of Boragam Pandamma, a landless labourer. “They gave my family Rs 1.7 lakh. Would it last till we start building the house there? The labour costs of just a verandah and a room is around Rs 2 lakh. Cement and bricks are as dear as gold. When we question the officials, they ask us to manage within that amount.”

 

Source: Down to Earth, 18 November 2008

 

Leave a Response »

 

Polavaram Dam- A Prescription for National Disaster శుక్రవారం , మార్చి 21 2008

Polavaram Dam- A Prescription for the Most Shocking National Economic Disaster? 

- Prof T Shivaji Rao

A.P. state proposes to construct a few China-wall like embankments to protect several villages of Khammam District likely to be inundated due to floods due to construction of Polavaram dam. These structures will be 44 Km.long with a height of 189 feet, with a free board of 6 ft. above the level of 183.6 ft., the peak flood mark that touched during the 35 lakh cusecs flood of August 1986. The cost is estimated at Rs.307 crores. Such embankments failed to stop inundation of vast areas of the temple town of Bhadrachalam during the August 2006 floods of Godavari river. The Government insisted that polavaram Dam will be able to discharge a peak flood of 49 lakh cusecs .

But the AP State Government must realise that the Central Water Commission [CWC] has adopted a 1000-year return flood for spillway design for Sardar Sarovar project and 10,000-year return flood for the Tehri dam because Tehri dam failure is likely to cause the death of several lakhs of people in Rishikesh and Haridawar and other towns in gangetic belt in addition to large scale economic damages to crops and properties. The AP State Government stated that the 1986 kind floods occur once in 500 years while 49 lakh cusec floods occur once in 1000 years.

The basic mistake being committed by the AP state Government and the Central Government is their failure to consider that the probable maximum flood (PMF)  shall not only be based on hydrological and technological considerations but also on the socio-economic and environmental considerations including major catastrophic dam failure hazards as per the modern methods followed for the design of the dam and the spillway in almost all the major countries of the world. Since India is also member of the international committee on large dams [ICOLD] it is the duty of the Central Water Commission to revise the design flood of 50 lakhs cusecs [cubic feet per second] as recently calculated by it in October 2006 for the Polavaram project to atleast 75 lakhs cusecs. This view is on the basis of the inflow flood of 1,70,000 cumecs [cubic meters per second] equivalent to about 60 lakhs cusecs as adopted by the eminent hydrological experts of the National Institute of Hydrology [NIH], Roorkee who conducted the dam break analysis operations in June 1999. Dam break analysis was done at the specific request of the Andhra Pradesh state Government for the purpose of preparing disaster management, risk analysis and environmental management programmes as per the conditions stipulated under the regulations of the environmental impact assessment report prepared as per rules of the Environmental Protection Act 1986.

Moreover, the Central Water Commission[CWC] while estimating the 1000-year return period flood for spillway design of the Sardar Sarovar Project had concluded that for the catchment area of 88,000 sq. km of Narmada River, the maximum flood was estimated at 87,000 cumecs and this means that the peak flood estimate comes to about one cumec [cubic meter per second] per sq.km area. Since Godavari catchment area is having similar characteristics and is also adjacent to Narmada catchment in terms of meteorological and topographical features, the probable Maximum Flood [PMF] at Polavaram under similar conditions has to be estimated at about 2 lakhs cumecs which is equivalent to about 75 lakhs cusecs.

.Surprisingly, if the water storage in Polavaram is transformed into an additional incremental flood in case of a dam failure, the additional reservoir -based flood comes to about 70,000 cumecs that is equivalent to about 25 lakhs cusecs. Consequently, the inflow design flood for Polavaram project must be taken as 100 lakh cusecs which is the actual magnitude of flood estimated by the eminent hydrological experts of the National Institute of Hydrology [NIH] in their report on dam break analysis for Polavaram project submitted to the AP State Government as already stated above. In view of the anticipated deaths of lakhs of people in the Gangetic belt due to a hypothetical failure of Tehri Dam, CWC has considered areturn flood of 10,000 years period amounting to15,540 Cumecs from a catchment area of 7,550 sq.km. Since Polavaram Dam is located in a more hazardous site with many highly vulnerable towns and cities, CWC must follow the international guidelines for the design of this major project and should not plan to wipe out of existence 45 lakhs of people in Godavari delta by resorting to the underdesigning of the spillway of Polavaram by using a very low value of 50 lakhs cusecs of probable maximum flood.

2 Responses »

 

Medaram Jatara- Celebration of Adivasi Pride శనివారం, Feb 23 2008

Medaram jatara, the largest tribal festival of the country, is celebrated in memory and respect of Sammakka and Saarakka

It is a festival of adivasis. Distinct of the tribal belief and rituals.

Sammakka and Saarakka are Koya woman warriors who fought against Pratapa Rudra armed forces and were killed by the army.

Today the festival is observed by tribals and non tribals from Telangana, Chattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Orissa, Maharashtra among other parts of the country

Medaram forests of warangal district wear a spectacular festivity for three days with adivasi pujaris leading millions of devotees offering prayers

Its a celebration of the adviasi pride and a reminder of the undying spirit of simple folks holding only thing close to heart- freedom

Find a few reports on the timeless Medaram Jatara

bharath bhushan

……………………….

India’s Largest Tribal Fair Draws Millions

Thursday 21st of February 2008

.

It is a sea of humanity at the four-day Sammakka Sarakka Jatra, India’s largest tribal fair here, with millions of people gathered from many parts of India to worship their tribal deities.

Attired in their best costumes and dancing to folk tunes and drum beats, the tribes people began gathering for the fair from Wednesday at Medaramm, a tiny village amid thick forests, about 110 km from Warangal city.

The tribals have arrived from different parts of Andhra Pradesh and neighbouring states like Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Orissa to worship two legendary tribal women – Sammakka and Sarakka.

The event, held once in two years, is also termed the tribal Kumbh Mela as the scenes here are similar to the religious mega-fairs held on the banks of the Ganges and the Narmada. The crowd during the four-day fair is expected to reach eight million.

According to officials, two million people are already at the fair, which began with the tribal priests bringing goddess Sarakka – also known as Saralamma – after prayers at Kanneboinapalli village, eight km from Medaram.

The devotees walk behind in the path trod by Sarakka in the belief it will bring happiness and prosperity to them.

Joint Collector K. Srinivasa Raju and other government officials accompanied the priests as per custom. It took nearly an hour for them to reach the main altar at Medaram village.

Late in the evening the deity was seated on ‘gadde’ (pedestal), as tens of thousands of devotees vied with each other to touch the pedestal, swaying deliriously to music.

Earlier, thousands took a holy dip in the Jampanna Vagu, a rivulet, before offering obeisance to the deity. Many women believe a bath in the rivulet will get them good husbands.

One Response »

 

Polavaram Dam- Ecological Disaster బుధవారం, జన 23 2008

Polavaram project in legal wrangle

KIRTIMAN AWASTHI

The multi-crore Polavaram project in Andhra Pradesh is currently embroiled in legal issues. But now, the project is being contested on technical issues as well. A study carried out by the International Water Management Institute (iwmi), an international non-profit research and development organization, has questioned the fundamental basis on which the project was designed. It was designed on the estimation that since the Godavari river has surplus water, it will be transferred to the water-deficit Krishna basin.

•  Polavaram factfile The iwmi report has found that the Godavari does not have enough water to spare. A feasibility report by the National Water Development Agency (nwda) on the other hand says Godavari is water surplus. It calculated the surface water availability at Polavaram—the downstream-most dam on the Godavari (there are three dams)—to be 80,170 million cubic metres (mcm), considering 75 per cent assured flow (water available for 75 per cent of time in a year).

nwda officials calculated the figure using annual average rainfall data. iwmi calculated surface water availability to be 36,000 mcm using monthly data. After deducting all water allocations, as designed by nwda, there is a deficit of 37,199 mcm (see table: Godavari: Surplus or not?). “The problem with the annual average is it does not consider variability of flow within a year, which is very high in monsoon-driven rivers,” says Vladimir Smakhtin, a hydrologist with iwmi, in his report. The catchment area gets around 70 per cent of rainfall just between June and September. nwda officials disagree. “Estimates based on annual average and monthly average will certainly vary. Since rainfall is not uniform throughout the year, it is better to take annual average. Our methodology is used for all inter-basin water transfer and is peer reviewed and approved by technical experts,” says N K Bhandari, chief engineer with nwda. Smakhtin says the nwda method of calculation also overlooks the allocation of water to keep the river ecosystem alive. The water used for such purposes is called environmental water, which is an equally important component of use, besides other uses such as irrigation, domestic and industrial projects. “The present planning of inter-basin water transfer is based on future irrigation requirement and ignores environmental water demand, which is important to maintain the ecology of the basin,” says Parikshit Gautam, director, Freshwater and Wetland Conservation Programme, wwf- India. iwmi estimates that 8,200 mcm of water flow is required to keep the river fit for fisheries and wildlife. This itself is a conservative figure as this flow cannot make the river fit for human consumption by checking human and industrial waste.

Leave a Response »

 

Disastrous Polavaram Dam & Illegal Clearances- NEAA మంగళవారం, డిసెం 25 2007

National Environment Appellate Authority has found ‘environmental clearance’ to Polavaram Dam given by Ministry of Environment & Forests unacceptable and improper. Environment clearance was granted in October 2005 to this controversial and disastrous dam in great haste under political pressure of YSR government. That clearance was a mockery, alleged by civil society and environment activists and adivasi groups, is proved by the NEAA declaring the ‘clearance’ unaccpetable  

Prof Sivaji Rao, environment expert, described it as a killer dam http://mbbhushan.wordpress.com/2007/09/25/save-andhra-pradesh-from-polavaram-prof-shivaji-rao/

Several NGOs and peoples organisations resisted the dam since mid eighties on ecological, economic and social grounds. 

YSR government started implementing the project with manifold cost escalations, hundred design deviations and thousand lies without a single clearance from any authority as part of the contractors’ raj and its pet scheme – Jala Yagnam in Andhra Pradesh

Jalayagnam plans to irrigate one crore acres at a cost of one lakh rupees per acre! and all that before the next elections!! just one  lakh crores to go down the drain in a record time!!!

this is yet another judgement against YSR government’s illegal projects

report on the issue from lliveMint.com the wall street journal

bharath bhushan

………………………………………………………

Two years on, project caught in green knots

National Environment Appellate Authority says nod for the Polavaram dam given without adequate hearing to people who may be hit

Padmaparna Ghosh

New Delhi: In a setback to the Andhra Pradesh government, the environmental go-ahead for a large multi-purpose dam has been set aside, two years after work had begun on the project.

The Polavaram dam, also known as the Indira Sagar project, is located in the northern part of the state and would straddle portions of the adjoining states of Chhattisgarh and Orissa.

In its order issued on Monday, the National Environment Appellate Authority, the statutory body that is empowered to hear appeals challenging environmental clearances, maintained that the clearance given by the Union environment ministry was done without giving an adequate hearing to all the people likely to be displaced, the largest in any similar project in the country. The order was passed by a bench comprising J.C Kala, I.V. Manivannan and Kaushlendra Prasad.

“Conceived in 1982, the project languished until it was taken up in earnest in 2002 by the Telugu Desam-led state government”

Under the Environment Protection Act, 1986, all major projects, in sectors such as hydroelectric, mega power and mining, have to get an environmental clearance, which is based on an environmental impact assessment.

Leave a Response »

 

Koya tribe opposes Polavaram Dam శనివారం, సెప్టెం 1 2007

Lokayan Bulletin 11:5, 1995 (pp 82 -86)  

APPEAL 

To Withdraw Polavaram Dam   

We, the people of eight villages of Motu Tehsil (Malkangiri district, Orissa), Konta Tehsil (Bastar district, Madhya Pradesh) and Chintur Mandal (Khammam district, Andhra Pradesh), are writing this letter to you, the Chief Secretary/ Chief Minister of Orissa, Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh. 

We are Koitor (Koya, a scheduled tribe) people living on the banks of the Godavari and its tributaries – Sileru and Sabari. We have come to know that the AP government is planning to build a large dam across the Godavari river at Polavaram, and that the governments of Orissa and Madhya Pradesh have given consent to it. We have also learnt that the AP government is giving utmost importance to this project and that it is awaiting clearances from the Central Water Commission, Ministry of Environment and Forests, Ministry of Welfare, etc. 

We are highly displeased that the three state governments have been pursuing this project in secrecy from us – a project that threatens to take away our lands, homes, trees, places of worship and to disintegrate our society. 

We also believe that the AP government is trying to get all the clearances on the basis of false information. The information it is giving about displacement, the loss of assets, flora & fauna, and the opinion of the people in the submergence area are false. The project authorities are claiming the submergence of 250 settlements in three states. Actually, around 365 settlements would be affected. A recent study by the Centre for Economic and Social Studies, Hyderabad, made for the AP Irrigation Department, identified 276 settlements coming under submergence in AP alone. The claims of the benefits of the project are also shifting – first, it was primarily to irrigate lands in East & West Godavari districts which are relatively well irrigated, and now the AP government says that it is mainly for power generation. 

Leave a Response »

 

Voices Against Displacement – Gender & Adivasi perspective శుక్రవారం , ఆగ 31 2007

Polavaram Submergence Zone

NOT JUST A PLACE TO LIVE 

In Sriramagiri panchayat, a few Kondareddi settlements want nothing to do with the relief and rehabilitation package for those who would be displaced by the Polavaram dam. Fighting off underhand tactics by officials, they are determined to remain in their homes, amidst their culture and its history. R Uma Maheshwari reports.

They said her name was Seeta mahalakshmi. It conjured up in my mind an image of a middle-aged woman, just another of those proxy women panchayat representatives. I’ve visited many other villages in V R Puram mandal of Khammam district, and one becomes familiar with the typical occupants of these offices reserved for women, but often managed by them in name only. But my mind’s image of this Kondareddi woman vanished with a pleasant surprise. Out walked a young sprightly woman, with a sportsperson’s gait, dressed in pant and shirt, her wavy hair plaited behind. A woman with doe eyes and skin like porcelain. I was introduced to Kotla Seetamahalakshmi, the 23-year-old Panchayat President of Sriramagiri panchayat, amidst the warmth of a late afternoon in early February.

Kotla Seetamahalakshmi, President of Sriramagiri panchayat (Picture by R Uma Maheshwari).

Seetamahalakshmi’s beauty is not a stereotype to bind her character in; it is something that adds to her persona, of one leader, among many, who refuses to move an inch from her stated position. Sriramagiri panchayat is one of the many that will be submerged under the Andhra Pradesh government’s proposed Indira Sagar (Polavaram) dam on the Godavari river. And its sarpanch is firmly against the dam and the government’s ‘packagi’ (the relief and rehabilitation package, as it is referred to in these parts). Her views are heartening, especially since on this particular trip, I’ve witnessed too many people from the submergence-area villages gradually losing hope and the will to resist the power of the state.

Leave a Response »

 

Polavaram Dam makes Godavari Nadhi an item for consumption ఆదివారం, జూన్ 24 2007

Thalli Godavari, part of belief and folklore for millions of people for ages, is now fast changing. Godavari as Varadha Godhaari, Perntaalapalli, Kondamodalu, abode of Koya and Konda Reddy adivasis, Rampa tribal revolts under Alluri Seetarama Raju, Nelakota Gandi Pochamma, numerous streams and historical- religious villages and long trails of Gotthi Koyas from Bastar forests trekking every season for coolie works in mirchi and tobacco fields are images of Godavari etched in the minds of generations of people. It is one part of the story.  

There is a new face emerging because of Polavaram Dam. Godavari as life for people and as a space of might for the State. New faces of Godavari, sacred and profane, one that is of people and belief and one that is a site and commodity for traders. Godavari that is life and tradition and one that is being dammed and damned. Two faces of mighty Godavari river. Now also an ‘item’ for consumption

The Threat of Polavaram Dam has  has added new face to Godavari. Fear of damming the mighty river has given rise to ’special shows’ of riverscape and all that is part of three hundred and more villages with every inch of the vast stretch of forests, river and hills and valleys that is habitat of the Koya people and part of national heritage and belief system. But that is going to be lost with damning in progress where the government is directed by interests of contractors than science or cultural values or norms of democratic governance.

There is rush to catch glimpse of Godhaari thalli. Tourism focused on ‘giving last chance to see river timeless  pristine godavari has special trips, ‘record dance’ and all that of a fun and profitable business. Adds empty bottles and wrappers, disposables and filth on the riverbed. Conflict of life and profit. They ask “Bangaaru katthi ani meda kosukontamaa?” (would you like to cut your throat because the knife is made of gold). And simply they reject the damning project. Illiterate adivasis do not know to negotiate with the challenge.

A telling commenting on the changing face godhaari is the report by Uma Maheswari. I am sure it adds to the growing understanding on the destruction of ecology and people in the name of Polavaram dam.   

JOURNEY – A tale of two rivers 

The Godavari has an intrinsic bond with the lives being lived on its shores. It can also be made invisible, a conduit for tourism. Overseeing the transition is the Polavaram dam. R. UMA MAHESWARI 

The two journeys reflected the difference between people’s commerce and that of the State, in league with exploitative private profiteers 

That was a different time, a different Godavari, a different flow and a different “movement”. It was languorous, as if time stopped by, for absorbing each moment of the flow. It was in June last year, one’s first trip across this stretch of the Godavari (incidentally, the second longest river of India, running to around 900 miles) in Andhra Pradesh. It had poured the previous night and still smelt of earth after first drops of rain and a mild breeze blew. It was 3 a.m. when I stepped on to the luggage carrier launch (a medium sized steamer), or “laanchi” in local parlance, at the “laanchila revu” in Rajahmundry. I sat on the deck amidst an assortment of goods — groceries, vegetables, fruits, cardboard cartons and so on.

Leave a Response »