It is now clear after two eventful decades that the crucial aspect of the tussle over the dams on the Narmada, particularly the Indira Sagar Project, is the neglect of resettlement and rehabilitation. "We aren't against the dam. We can't be it's already built. But be fair. Give us our due." - Kailash Jain, Bijoramafi village. THE greatest tragedy of Resettlement and Rehabilitation (R&R) in the Indira Sagar Project (ISP), and, indeed, in all the Narmada Valley projects, is the administration's mishandling of the issue. The most publicised misrepresentation is that the opposition is primarily to the building of dams. While this was true before the dams were built, activism, both by the affected people and the Narmada Bachao Andolan (NBA), is now centred on securing proper R&R. Of course, where dam construction is still in progress, there is continual opposition to further construction. The dam-displaced people in hamlets and villages in the Narmada Valley are shortchanged as they are by and large ignorant of their rights. They accept whatever is offered without a fight but those living in towns such as Harsud are more organised to put up a fight. After the shocking demolition of houses in Harsud in June 2004, most of its 6,600 families moved out, save about 400 families that stayed on without running water or electricity. The Khandwa-Bhopal highway that once cut through this prosperous 700-year-old town ends abruptly in floodwaters. The milestone at the water's edge, which reads Harsud 0 km, instead of conveying a sense of having arrived prepares you for the desolation ahead. The backwaters of the dam swirl in an unfamiliar manner around demolished homes, half-submerged buildings and rotting trees. Iron-mongers and auctioneers are busy scavenging the town and abandoned cattle move listlessly. Harsud offers the worst example of unfairness and represents the state of R&R in the Narmada Valley. Compensation to the affected people has been meagre or non-existent. Measurements of buildings, including houses, was carried out negligently. The settlement of New Harsud has poor infrastructure. Standing on a mound of debris, Dharmabhai Jain looks across the water at the panchayat office building, which was built by his grandfather with the money got from selling a portion of the land he had owned. Only the upper walls and roof of the structure of the colonial period are visible. Recalling his grandfather's "spirit of social service", he says, "Look at my grandfather's ideas of social service and look at this government's ideas of progress. One built, the other destroys and calls it development." Dharmabhai's family had lived in Harsud for more than two centuries. He now lives in Khandwa but is not sure if that is where he wants to be. THE administration seems to be single-minded with respect to R&R. The aim is to evict people in minimal time with minimal expenditure and there is nothing subtle about the modus operandi it wishes to adopt. Instead of guiding people through the maze of red tape, the local authorities seem to be tripping up residents at every step so that they are eligible for less and less. Publicity material is supposed to be circulated to the affected people providing guidance on their rights, but as Kailash Jain of Bijoramafi village says, "We have no idea of the criteria for compensation or how much of the land is going to be submerged." Surveyors enter and depart from villages in a mystifying manner. Says Kailashbhai of Oova village, "When we ask questions about the stone markers they erect, we are told to mind our own business." Says Kailash Jain: "Do they know how much it costs to dig a well or to get a door made? They [the surveyors] come here with measure tapes and measure the length and breadth. Is that all there is to my house?" Compensation for houses depends on what is reported in the Measurement Book by government engineers. The valuation is to be done on an individual basis so that a new house of a similar type can be built. "Instead, they give a depreciated value," says Chittaroopa Palit of the Narmada Bachao Andolan (NBA). Not surprisingly, most people have no knowledge of the Measurement Book. The other tripwire that the government uses is to get villagers to sign a TP, or Transit Pass. This provides a carte blanche to the government to remove all personal belongings and proceed with demolition or whatever other action necessary. It is supposed to be issued only after the R&R norms are complied with but officials bully the villagers into signing it beforehand, without indicating the date. Thus, an unwilling village may be evacuated well ahead of time and well before the people are prepared to leave, merely because it is convenient to the administration. The lack of transparency in implementing the R&R procedure - the government has not declared the submergence areas - seems to be facilitating corruption, especially among lower level officials. Some patwaris are alleged to have made fortunes by putting an official seal marking houses as "submergence" or "non-submergence". In Karanpura village, there are 244 houses in the submergence zone but no one is registered as an oustee because the residents refused to pay to be registered for their rights. In an effort to quell this rampant corruption, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) raided the Harsud and Khandwa offices of the Narmada Hydroelectric Development Corporation (NHDC) in January, February and July and recovered Rs.12 lakhs. Among those caught were people at the level of Deputy Collector. That the raids were effective was obvious when the NHDC staff went on a strike to protest against them. The NBA took up the cases of those who refused to be a part of the corrupt process and organised registration camps with the Grievances Redressal Authority. The facts surrounding the Narmada Valley projects continue to amaze. With over 3,000 dams on it, the Narmada has the maximum number of dams among all rivers worldwide. One-third of the Narmada's water is held back by the ISP, which is the largest dam in India and the second largest in Asia. The ISP has an impoundment area of 91,000 hectares, that is, three times the area of the Maldives. But unlike the Three Gorges project of China, where R&R is believed to have been complied with, those affected by the ISP in the three districts of Khandwa, Harsud and Dewas are yet to receive proper compensation. The ISP is administered by the Narmada Valley Development Authority (NVDA) of the State government, implemented by the NHDC and monitored by the Narmada Control Authority. With the numerous agencies involved in the project it was expected that the R&R would be efficiently carried out. But a report prepared by the Independent People's Commission in October 2004 states, "We note that the human rights record of both the Narmada Valley Development Authority and the National Hydroelectric Power Corporation reflects a history of egregious neglect and misconduct". The report goes on to describe the administration as "feudal policing authorities... with complete and paternalistic jurisdiction over the life and finances of project-affected and displaced persons, including the involuntary acquisition of their lands." It does not mince words while accusing the state of mistreatment and negligence and of inflicting a "significant measure of avoidable human and social suffering... [which are] the result of the failures of government agencies to adhere to the letter and spirit of the Narmada Water Disputes Tribunal Award, the 1987 Rehabilitation Policy of the Government of Madhya Pradesh and internationally accepted norms and standards for displaced peoples." Negligence of R&R in the ISP has been particularly harsh and has resulted in two man-made disasters in the space of 15 months. One was the June 2004 destruction of Harsud town where people spent the monsoon under plastic sheets after their homes were demolished. The second was the June 2005 Dharaji incident when about 80 pilgrims were washed away in flash floods caused by the release of water from the ISP. This year another tragedy during the monsoon was averted by an order passed by the Jabalpur Bench of the Madhya Pradesh High Court prohibiting impounding more than 255 metres of water. Chittaroopa Palit who argued and won the case said this gave some breathing space to about one lakh people who would have suffered disastrous consequences had water been allowed to be stored up to the maximum reservoir level of 262 m.