Narmada dam affected people block road, demand land, jobs

Ahmedabad, Aug 21 (PTI) Hundreds of people affected bythe Narmada dam project today blocked a road at Kevadia inNarmada district of Gujarat, disrupting movement of trafficfor nearly two hours. The protesters blocked the road leading to the dam atWagharia village, 5 kms from the dam site, to press their23-point demands. It caused a huge traffic jam as hundreds of vehicles,including those carrying tourists, got stuck. The overflowingdam has become a tourist attraction on week-ends. "The blockade continued for nearly two hours… Onlyafter we told the protesters that the government has takennote of their demands, they relented," Deputy Superintendentof Police R M Bhadoria said. People from Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtrawho were affected by the construction of Narmada dam have beendemanding cultivable land, jobs and amenities such as watersupply and roads in the colonies to where they were relocated. "Among our demands are cultivable land against theland that was taken away from us… Several persons have notreceived the land as promised under the rehabilitation andresettlement package," said Jikubhai Tadvi, who heads NarmadaAsargrast Yuva Mandal. "Living conditions in these colonies (forrehabilitated people) are very bad, with no proper water androad facilities. We demand improvement of living conditions,"he said. People from over 200 such colonies from the threestates have been camping at Kevadia for the last 36 days topress their demands. Tadvi said the agitation would continueuntil they receive a written assurance from the government.PTI KA KRK SMNBAS