Thaindian News

New Delhi, Aug 2 (IANS) The Supreme Court Tuesday said that people affected by the canal network of the Narmada were not entitled to the same relief and rehabilitation (R&R;) package as given to those displaced by the submerges caused by the dam constructed on the river.

The people whose lands had been acquired for the canal network may, however, be accommodated and given a good compensation at market prices, said an apex court bench of Justice J.M. Panchal, Justice Deepak Verma and Justice B.S. Chauhan.

The bench set aside the Madhya Pradesh High Court verdict that asked the state government to pay the same R&R; package to the people affected by the canal network as was given to those displaced by the dam construction.

The high court should not have taken a view contrary to the position earlier taken by the apex court, Justice Chauhan said.

The apex court, in its earlier judgment, had said that distinction has to be made between the dam-affected people and the canal network-affected people and both could not be put on the same pedestal for the purposes of giving the package.

–Indo-Asian News service
pk/sak/vt