A journey for our rivers

In feb 2005, I  saw her in a train Indore-Bilaspur in upper side berth. In a plane nun coloured saree, simple glasses, natural silver hair, writing something on her diary in very focused way.  I was trying to recognize her and asked Anand " Is she Medha Patkar ? " Anand noded " Yes" . He was not so much happy but I was so much exited. Watta a quirk reaction by a CA and aspirant of UPSC ?  I read many articles on Narmada Bachao Andolan in magzines and in news papers. As a humanitarian it was a great opportunity for me to share a compartment with Medha Patkar. I went to her and asked for an autograph. She didn't smile but in a sober way she wrote " सादगीपूर्ण तरीक़े से अपने जीवन के लक्ष्य पाओ यही सर्वश्रेष्ठ है ... blessings... Medha Patkar. "

I was so much happy that I showed this autograph to my sister Dr. Sangeeta Agrawal in Indore. She said " Ohh.. Medha Patkar.. yaa .. I also saw her many times in Bhopal " watta quirk reaction it was ? Uhhh... When Anand and me reached to Raipur I showed this autograph very proudly to my father-in-law SP K.K. Agrawalji. I was pretty sure that papaji will give sound nice reaction and info regarding her. Butttt....

He asked simple questions like where u met and all .. then I go to kitchen and  started preparing his breakfast. Meanwhile he was talking with Anand,  " ये मेधा पाटकर जैसे लोगों के कारण बाँध की लागत अनाप शनाप बढ़ गई है। मानवाधिकार की आड़ में गवर्नमेंट की हर पॉलिसी प्रोजेक्ट खराब करके रख देते हैं। "

Ohh... ! I was sad listening this from kitchen. I never think like that. Now I was a bit confused about Narmada Bachao Andolan, is it good or not ? Should I trust her or not ?

It was paining inside me that my ideal Medhaji was not doing right deeds because I trust the wisdom of my father-in-law. If he is against Medha Patkar then something is wrong there. But the question is What was that ? I don't know... Alas ! It pains a lot if you have some questions in  your mind as true desire of knowledge but you can't find the answers because you get news from others and depend on media and officers to know full scenario but nobody can show you full picture at once. This is how my journey began for our rivers.

I watched many videos in Facebook where poor women are terribly disturbed and sharing their true story. "Government is not fulfilling it's promise. They are not providing us home. Our agriculture , social balance, schools, hospitals every thing they snached but not giving us basic things like home for our living. " Ohh.. ! It was a heartbreaking video indeed. How she live now with her son and an old father-in-law without having a job, feild, forest, home...  ? Some years ago renowned film actor Amir Khan also supported Narmada Bachao Andolan . He also taken care Of a village of Bhuj in Gujrat which was destroyed in an earth quack. So..... Is Medhaji is right .. Amir was also joined hand with her ?

What is the truth ? Are these people blackmailers ? Are they raising money only by their NGO ? Then why intellectual minds of India were supporting them ? What the hell is going on INDIA ? When it comes to my country it becomes a personal issue for me.

My native place is Bilaspur in Chhattisgarh. It is 2nd biggest city of Chhattisgarh. It is situated in the bank of river maa Arpa. Arpa is a small 100 km square river. It is a seasonal river. It is a prachalit kahawat here that one can run in Arpa but not swim because Arpa don't have enough water for swimming.

In our city people are attached with river Arpa. Our upbringing is roaming around it's pure water and soothing air. Old Sarkanda pull, Saraswati Shishu Mandir, Tilaknagar is a part of our sweet memories of childhood. We oftern go to see Shanichari rapta in July to see Arpa in it's full form. It gives us immense pleasure.

Because of poor town planning Arpa is going through with the worst period of It's time. We are feeling that still we can do a lot for our river but we are helpless infront of politics over It's sand. We are not powerful enough and no one wants to become Medha Patkar here. Who will takes risks .. haan ? We cannot fight with corrupt politician , officers and sand mafia tie. We are struggling in Facebook only.

We need water for electricity, water for our feild and water in our rivers too. How it can be possible ? This is the question.

Today, PM Shri Narendra Modi will inaugurate world's 2nd biggest dam after the Grand Coulee Dam in the United States, it is in Gujrat. The project on the Narmada river is the third highest concrete dam in India. The foundation stone was laid by Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru nearly six decades ago, on April 5, 1961. The construction began in 1987.

10 facts of Sardar Sarovar Dam :

1. The Sardar Sarovar project is the biggest dam in terms of volume of concrete used in it. The project, on the Narmada river, is the third highest concrete dam in India.

2. The 1.2-km-long dam, which is 163 meters deep has till date produced 4,141 crore units of electricity from its two power houses -- river bed powerhouse and canal head powerhouse -- with an installed capacity of 1,200 MW and 250 MW, respectively.

3. The dam has earned over 16,000 crore more than double the cost of its construction, said a government spokesperson. Each gate of the dam weighs over 450 tones and it takes one hour to close them.

4. Officials say the power generated from the dam would be shared among three states -- Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Gujarat. About 57 percent of the electricity produced from the dam goes to Maharashtra, while Madhya Pradesh gets 27 per cent and Gujarat gets 16 per cent.

5. Activists have been long demanding that the filling of the reservoir with water be stopped immediately and the dam's gates remain open so as to reduce the water level.

6. The water level in the submergence area of the dam in Barwani and Dhar districts of Madhya Pradesh is rising steadily since closure of the dam's gates began in July. The Narmada Bachao Andolan group claims that 40,000 families in 192 villages in Madhya Pradesh would be displaced when the reservoir is filled to its optimum capacity. As per the government, 18,386 families would be affected in the state.

8. The new gates raise the height of the dam to 138.68 meters. The Narmada Control Authority in June granted permission to the state government to close the gates, which will raise water level in the Sardar Sarovar reservoir, after being convinced that rehabilitation of the people displaced due to the project was complete.

9. Activist Medha Patkar is protesting against the project and demanding rehabilitation of the families affected by the Sardar Sarovar Dam construction. Narmada Bachao Andolan took the government to the Supreme Court over environmental and rehabilitation issues, and obtained a stay in 1996. The court allowed resumption of work in October 2000.

10. The height of the dam was recently raised to 138.68 meters, which will allow maximum 'usable storage' of 4.73 million acre feet of water.

Sources of the points : NDTV

The answer of my question is , neither Medha Patkar ji is wrong nor our policies are wrong. We need development and safety of rivers and it's people both. If we don't have dams we cannot develop and we cannot develop ourselves by destroying our rivers and it's people. Today, we share news in social media that hey .. It's raining here in my city after so long. Why ? Because we destroyed our jungles, rivers and it's neighboring farmers and aadiwasis. Actually we need people like Medha Patkar ji, Sundarlal Bahuguna ji along with campaign like rally for rivers which is organised by Sadhguru through Isha foundation. It is high time folks. Plant more and more trees besides of rivers to save our environment and it's people. Only then we can enjoy the fruits of dams happily. After all dam is also for people only na. And what Medhaji is saying is also for the people. Let’s manage this situation more scientifically.