CLASS REPORT

SRI PRASAD. J
BC0160048

The people's struggle to save the Narmada, a river to which their lives are inextricably
linked has been waged on two interrelated fronts. It has seen a 'war of words' that has
included their songs, poems as well as detailed research and analysis on the impacts dams
have and sustainable development alternatives. Their struggle is also a material one they
struggle to protect their subsistence livelihoods and their cultures against exploitation and
erasure. Their tactics involve diverse methods of non-violent action and encompass
repertoires of resistance - demonstrations, fasts, and the ultimate tactic of Jal Samarpan.

Development, discourse, and the Narmada dams:

The Narmada valley development project (NVDP) entails the construction of a series
of dams 30 mega-dams, 135 medium sized dams, and 3000 small dams across the
entirety of the Narmada river valley, which flows through the states of Madhya
Pradesh (MP), Maharashtra and Gujarat. The project, initiated in 1961, was part of
India’s post-independence plans to develop its agriculture and industry in an effort to
achieve economic and political self-reliance.
Certainly, economic development in India has had many successes. India has seen an
increase in foodgrain production since the 1960s, and has diversified its industrial
base, life expectancy risen from 44 years in 1960 to 60 years today.
However, there is also a dark side to the development experience in India. For
example, Fernandes and Thukral (1989) estimate that at least 15 million people have
been displaced by development projects since Independence. Scott (1998) has
argued that state-initiated development planning in much of the Third World has
often resulted in human and environmental disasters owing to the convergence of
four elements.

Discourses of development

In keeping with Scott’s analysis, official Indian discourses of development have

tended to associate a Westernised culture of progress and modernity—what
Visvanathan (1985) terms a ‘vision of conquest’ with development projects such as
large dams. Furthermore, Ahmad (1999) recognises that there will be massive human
displacement from the valley more than 40,000 families will be affected by the
project’, but assures us that ‘benefits are being extended to displaced families to
improve their quality of life’ and that for displaced adivasis ‘attention has been paid
to protection of their socioeconomic and cultural environments’.

Development as erasure
Ecological erasure

The Narmada river runs for 820 miles (1312 km) through the Indian states of MP,
Maharashtra, and Gujarat, passing though fertile plains and a series of hill ranges such
as the Vindhyas and Satpuras. According to government statistics, the SSP alone,
when completed, will submerge 37,690 ha (86,088 acres) of land, which com- prise
11,279 ha of agricultural land, 13,542 ha of forests, and 12,869 ha of river beds and
waste lands (Kothari & Ram, 1994).12 Once all of the dams are constructed, the entire
valley will be submerged.
Cultural erasure

The Narmada river valley is home to a range of different people, including wealthy
Patidar cash crop farmers of the Nimar region and adivasi subsistence farmers such as
the Bhil, Bhilala, and Pawra. The valley has been these peoples’ home for gener-
ations, and the river is of great cultural and spiritual importance to all communities,
whether Hindu or Animist.
Political erasure

On the 18 October 2000, the three-judge bench of the Supreme Court delivered its
verdict on the public interest litigation filed by the NBA against the Union of India
and the state governments of Gujarat, MP and Maharahtra.

Ambiguities and the academic

Within every movement there is an entanglement of the powers of domination and

resistance—no movement has complete internal unity, despite public attempts to
speak with one voice. Communication flows regarding strategy and tactics—tend to
be from the core group to the villages. The NBA has a charismatic leadership, which
retains much decision-making power. In addition, while many women have been
mobilised at various stages of the movement, and while there are women activists
who are powerful within the core group, it is often men who make the decisions
within the villages. Caste inequalities persist within the movement alongside gender
inequalities. The NBA’s public image has been unambiguous. Its constructed
identity as a non-violent environmental peasant movement—has smoothed over
complexities and nuances within everyday realities in the Narmada valley.

Indeed, several academics have conducted research on the NBA over the past 15
years. Many have been critically supportive of the movement. The role of
academics’ relations with the NBA has caused much debate and criticism within the
movement. Members of the NBA have at times interpreted academic criticality. In
circumstances such as those that pertain in the Narmada valley, I think that it is
important for academics to be critically with resisting others as well as for them,
engaging in collaboration as well as criticism and analysis.