Refusing to be deterred by the biting cold, the Sardar Sarovar Project (SSP) and Jobat dam-affected adivasi oustees

The Narmada Bachao Andolan (NBA) is a protracted struggle of more than three decades against large dams. While the movement has been a witness to various highs and lows, some key lessons nevertheless can be deducted by analysing its overall successes and failures. Arguments presented in this article are based on the assumption that ‘domestic mobilisation is one of the main strategies in shaping political will amongst state actors’.

Resettlement and Rehabilitation (R&R) of project affected families (PAFs) is one of the very important activities of large size water resources projects. The success of R&R programme of such projects depends on sharing of information about PAFs and fast retrieval. This paper discusses the development of an information management system for managing R&R activities using web technologies, Internet Geographical Information System (IGIS) and databases for the large projects.

When the World Bank cancelled its loan for the Sardar Sarovar Project on the Narmada in 1993, it was the first time that the institution had terminated an agreement due to environment/rehabilitation reasons.

This article discusses how the Sardar Sarovar Dam in India is a case of a development project which causes environmental displacement on a massive scale. This occurs through the impairment of livelihoods by environmental changes. The problems of resettlement and rehabilitation are emphasized in the article as are further displacement effects due to this process. The inequality between development beneficiaries and those who must bear the majority of the development costs is also addressed.

This paper critically examines some narratives of water scarcity in Kutch, western India. It argues that images of dwindling rainfall and increasing drought largely serve to legitimize the controversial Sardar Sarovar dam and manufacture dominant perceptions concerning scarcity. This manufacture has naturalized scarcity in the region and largely benefits powerful actors such as politicians, industrialists and large farmers. But the needs of the poor in water-limited areas are neglected.