Narmada Dam Dispute

Medha Patkar, 52, eight days into a hunger strike to demand the rehabilitation of thousands of villagers displaced by a dam, was arrested last night near the Indian national parliament in New Delhi and taken to hospital

Local authorities began work in March to raise the Sardar Sarovar hydroelectric dam in the Narmada Valley in western India, but came in for criticism from Patkar, who has campaigned for 20 years to protect villagers whose lives have been affected by the project.

Earlier yesterday, the Indian government had issued a statement saying it would ensure proper rehabilitation for all the villagers in question and appealed to Patkar to give up her protest.

The Indian Water Resources Minister Saifuddin Soz had also announced that government would seek to satisfy Patkar’s Narmada Bachao Andolan environmental group, or Save Narmada Movement.

Source: Times of India