Narmada water starts people exodus
The moment they had been dreading for the last three decades has finally arrived. Narmada water has started inundating villages in Sardar Sarovar Dam Project (SSP) submergence, forcing affected people to start vacating their homes.
Due to incessant rainfall in the catchment of Narmada over the past few weeks and water management in the reservoirs on Narmada, the water level has crossed much beyond the danger mark of 123.2 metres at Rajghat in Barwani district.
The water level, which was 123.6m on August 30, has now reached 128.5m. This has led to inundation of water into the farms and inhabited areas closer to the Narmada banks, especially in Dhar district. The swelled waters have submerged Nisarpur (Dhar) and Rajghat (Barwani) bridges that act as boundary between the two districts.
Local sources said that many affected families in Dhar’s Nisarpur, Dharmrai , Kasrana and Chikhalda have started vacating their houses, relocating to safer places, ferrying their belongings in tractors, autos and other vehicles. Many others are still waiting, hoping the water may recede.
Well ahead of the prime minister’s inauguration of SSP gates on September 17, the authorities had closed its sluice gates on June 17, paving way for rise in water level in the 214 km stretch upstream of Narmada. Following closure of the gates, the height of the dam was increased to 138m from the earlier 121.92m.
District officials, police and NDRF are on high alert in Dhar and Barwani, keeping a tab on the developments and making appeals to project affected people to vacate their homes in time.
Rajneesh Vaish, vice-chairman, Narmada Valley Development Authority, said water level is decided by the Narmada Control Authority. “In the next few days, the NCA’s requirement is to have a water level of 130m. So water will further rise,” he said.
The Supreme Court on Friday ordered radical prison reforms, including a direction to states to provide telephone and video conferencing facilities for prisoners to enable them to speak with their lawyers and family members.
The order, issued in the wake of unnatural deaths of prisoners being reported from across the country, directs states to award compensation to families of 551 prisoners who died under mysterious circumstances inside jail between 2012 and 2015.
Asking the Centre and states to display “circumspection” while arresting citizens, a bench headed by Justice MB Lokur said the authorities cannot treat prisoners as chattel and incarcerate them without providing facilities.
“No state government can shirk its duties and responsibilities for providing better facilities to prisoners.
If a state government is unable to do so, it should be far more circumspect in arresting and detaining persons, particularly undertrial prisoners who constitute the vast majority of those in judicial custody,” the bench said, fixing a deadline of December 31, 2017, for compliance of its directives.
SC started hearing the matter related to inhuman conditions in jails after it received a letter in 2016 written by former Chief Justice of India RC Lahoti.
It drew the top court’s notice to the increasing number of suicidal deaths in prisons.
The top court said states do not have to oppose every bail application nor ask for remand of every suspect pending investigation. It directed Chief Justices of High Courts to take cognizance of “unnatural deaths” as revealed in the NCRB data, identify the next of kin of the victims and initiate a hearing in public interest to grant suitable compensation unless already awarded.
THE SC DIRECTED CHIEF JUSTICES TO TAKE COGNIZANCE OF “UNNATURAL DEATHS” , IDENTIFY THE NEXT OF KIN OF THE VICTIMS AND INITIATE A HEARING IN PUBLIC INTEREST