saradih trial

Mahanadi – Privatization of the Great River

It is not just coal, minerals and other resources that are plundered in Chhattisgarh, but even the rivers and water are being divided and sold off to private companies. Thermal power plants that run on coal require continuous supply of water. This can only be supplied by the rivers flowing through Chhattisgarh and at the cost of farmers and their livelihood. The Mahanadi river flows through the Janjgir Champa dist., and here 5 large barrages are planned – Sheorinarayan Barrage, Basantpur Barrage, Mironi Barrage, Saradih Barrage and Kalma Barrage. Each barrage is constructed by five or more private companies and the average cost of these barrages is 24, 272.348 lakhs (INR).

Threatened land of the riverbed

The impact of only the Saradih Barrage will be on the villages Saradih, Sakrali, Upani, Navapara, Basantpur, Siriyagarh and Manjarkud, and will also effect a population over 15,000 people. The villagers grow vegetables and grain on the fertile soil of the riverbed. It is however the landless farmers who are most dependent on the riverbed for their rozi-roti or daily sustenance. Kumar Ram, a farmer in Saradih, says “After the monsoons, when the river subsides the farmers of these villages divide the land of the riverbed amongst themselves and grow vegetables on this land.” The riverbed is 1 km wide and in some parts stretches to 2 kms. Vegetables grown here reach the markets of Raipur, Bilaspur, Raigarh and Champa.

Nand Kishor Rout, a gauge reader at the Hirakud Dam says, “If there is even 3 meters of water in the river then the riverbed is drowned. The barrage will raise the height of water to 5.5 meters which will drown not just the riverbed but also half the lands in these villages.”

Saradih agriculture in the Mahanadi river

Seven villages in Saradih alone will be effected and about 15,000 people but there is no precise estimate of how much land will be submerged. If all the four barrages are taken together then about 90 kms of riverbed will be permanently submerged under water. The thousands of landless farmers who sell vegetables that they have grown on the riverbed in local and nearby established markets, will have no choice but to migrate and become bonded labourers in brick kilns in Jammu and Kashmir.

Islets in the river

Moroni land and crops to be flooded

In the Mahanadi, when the waters are high during the rainy season, a strip of land about 15 kms long and 1 km to 1.5 km wide, remains above water and looks like an islet or tapu as it is called in Hindi. The rest of the year the tapu would be dry on one shore. Farmers from the nearby 8-9 villages have land on this tapu and most of their livelihood and income comes from what is grown here. The tapu is made of the fertile mud and silt deposited by the Mahanadi and wheat, dal or pulses (udaad, moong), cucumber, eggplant, spinach, tomato, lady’s finger, bitter gourd etc. are all grown here.

Irrigation of the tapu land is never a problem as ground water is available at a mere depth of 15-25 feet. This land is three times more fertile and fecund than any other. Jalindhar Prasad, a retired gauge reader in Saradih village, says “If the barrage raises water level to 5.5 meters as the officials of the company claim, then not only will it no longer be only 3-5 meters depth of water around the tapu, but large portions of this fertile tapu land will be submerged.” What is shocking is that the government claims that the submerged land from this project will be zero.

Bhogilal, a farmer from Sakrali village, says, “If the water level around the tapu is raised to 8 to 10 feet then how will the farmers use their carts, bullocks, tractors or other animals to cross to the tapu. If your house is surrounded by thorns from all sides, is it safe to live in?”

The main demand of the villagers has consistently been the construction of means for them to access the land on the tapu, and this would be more beneficial than compensation. The villagers have met everyone from the block officer to the minister of Raipur, Raman Singh but no one has given any assurances to them about this.

Moroni barrage construction

How the water will be used?

Let us know discuss what the the Water Resources Department claims will be the benefits of the barrages for the people in the villages – this report was accessed through an RTI application. The first claim in the report is that the barrages will solve the problem of drinking water. However the farmers say there has never been any such problem because the rivers provide fresh drinking water. The second claim is that water will be available for the development of farmland and the villages. Anyone who knows Chattisgarh is aware that the region is replete with ponds and each village has at least two such ponds. Villagers have found ways to use this water for varied purposes, ranging from bathing, sanitation, washing animals, disposal of wastes to use of the fresh water as well. So why is crores of rupees being spent to build a dam to do what is already happening!

The third claim is water recharge will happen. Vinod Verma, in his book titled Garh Chhattis, refers to a local proverb “chh: agor chh: kori” which is actually a reference to the 126 ponds that Chhattisgarh is famous for having. The villagers do not exploit these resources, but tend to these ponds that are their life source; they ensure that they do not dry up and ground water is replenished.The fourth stated claim or ‘advantage’ mentioned at the end of the report whcih is the only real benefit of the barrages, is that the water will be made available for use by the power plants. The government has set a price for this water that will be given to power plants, according the report on financial returns, at a meager cost of Rs. 3 per ghanmeter i.e. 3 rs for 1000 lts of water

The farmers of Sakrali are angry, they say “The politicians often raise slogans for development for farmers, but what the government is doing is only development for private companies. The Saradih barrage will give water to the private companies, but the farmers will not get one drop for irrigation. So who is this development for? The farmers or the company owners and management? If this water was made available to the farmers instead of the companies, then the land that now gives one crop would give three crops. Then we would agree that maybe this is meant for our benefit, but this is not what is happening.”

The protest and movement of the people of Saradih village against the barrage is still going on. They do not want that their demands be shoved aside like those who were effected by the Tehri Dam, they don’t want to be uprooted from their villages, land and water like those displaced by the Narmada Dam, they don’t want to be evicted like those effected by Hirakud Dam, Rihand Dam and Mullaperiyar Dam. They want that the government for the time-being to stop thinking about their development lest they end up as bonded labourers in the brick kilns of Jammu and Kashmir again.