Thaindian News

New Delhi, May 3 (IANS) MPs from the Left, the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and other parties Monday supported the government’s decision to suspend work on the Maheshwar dam in Madhya Pradesh till the dislocated people are rehabilitated.
“We welcome the decision taken by the ministry of environment and forests, under the provisions of the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986, suspending work on the Maheshwar project till the rehabilitation and resettlement of the affected persons is completed,” the parties said in strongly worded letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

The letter is signed by the BSP, Communist Party of India-Marxist, Communist Party of India, Assom Gana Parishad, Samajwadi Party, Forward Bloc and Revolutionary Socialist Party.

“This intervention to ensure prior rehabilitation of the oustees will go a long way to constructively address the issue of displacement in development projects,” the letter said.

“Of the 61 villages whose lands are involved only one has been rehabilitated… Of these 61, 22 are those where homestead will also be submerged,” the letter said.

The letter says that the MPs were “shocked” to learn that Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan “instead of welcoming this opportunity to complete the rehabilitation and resettlement of the dislocated” had written to the prime minister seeking revocation of the environment ministry order.

The Madhya Pradesh government last week accused the union ministry of having an agenda to stall development projects in the state, and cited its order suspending the work on Maheshwar Dam as an example.