కూడలి / english / General

ayaskantam.com: Trivikram Srinivas – 6

Ashok Varma — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 19:32:41 +0000

Trivikram’s Gallery

ayaskantam.com: Trivikram Srinivas – 5

Ashok Varma — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 19:31:22 +0000

Trivikram’s Gallery

Ganex Improves ..: Warren Buffett’s Advice to Budding Freelancers and Entrepreneurs

Ganex (noreply@blogger.com) — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 17:42:00 +0000

In 2008 Warren Buffett was ranked the richest person in the world. He made his fortune from investing in the stock market and buying out companies. I recently read a biography about Buffett and it inspired me to learn more of this peculiar billionaire. I came to learn that Buffett was an amazing person and despite accumulating billions, he was still very much down to earth. It may sound totally

Sulekha: Featured Blogs: You are mine, only....

Tue, 03 Nov 2009 12:43:53 +0000

You are mine only....

Nysa smiled at me beautifully and ran towards the swings. She was so excited to be in the play ground of the school. I was there with her to talk about Nysa's school admission. I watched her playing for some time. "Come Nysa, let's go the teacher'. I called her. "Yes, Mamma, I am coming". She rushed to me cheerfully.

That was a play school. We walked into the room of the admission in charge. "I am Sneha, she is Nysa, now two and a half years old. I wanted to discuss about her admissions here". I said politely. She asked me to fill the form. I took the form in my hand and gave a cursory look to the questions. Nysa was happily observing the fishes in the small aquarium placed there. I took some time to complete the form...the form was very simple...but ....

She looked at the form....So, you are her local gurdian?

"No...Yes...No..." My reply was more confusing to her.

She looked at me, and asked, "Her parents are abroad?"

"No, I am her only relative now"...I said while hiding my tears.

My Sister, Swati's, last words were echoing in my ears..."I know that, you will look after Nysa very well....She is your daughter now....I know, you will never let her miss her mamma........" I took her hands strongly. Tears were flowing from my eyes. Swati was breathing fast....Her eyes were closing....She was surrendring herself to death, which came in the form of blood cancer. The little Nysa was sleeping on my shoulder peacefully. Death took Swati in two weeks time......I informed Nikhil's parents....but nobody turned up....I am not sure, whether they informed Nikhil or not.....

Swati suffered a lot....Nikhil had left Swati when she was three month's pregnant....That was three year's after their marriage. He was insisting for an abortion....but Swati refused....there started the fights....later, he left her, without even telling a word....He had started his new life....he was into an affair, much before the break up. He often used to have night outs. Swati believed his words...and thought that all were office trips....she was cheated miserably....She came back to me....I was like father and mother to her....We had lost our parents one year after Swati's marriage in a road accident....I was ten years elder to her....She was quite upset in the beginning...but she never tried to approach Nikhil...I found out his new residence and all....many times, I felt that, I should talk to him and tharsh him and that 'bloody' lady who ruined my sister's life. But Swati, always made me to calm down....

I never gave Nysa an occassion to think that, I am not her real mother....Only once she asked about 'Papa', may be after seeing other parents...She was satisfied with my answer that, 'he is in heaven'.

Now, her birth certificate, made the teacher know the truth. I discussed her the whole story.

"I hope, there must be something in our legal system...which can now make you as her mother...I mean you can legally adopt her....other wise it will be very embarassing in future.... If situation demands, you can tell her every thing when she grows up....but now, she should be only yours...."The teacher said very firmly.

I felt as if I got a new life....Yes, I should do so very soon....I lived all these years with a single status, only to become Nysa's mother.....She is destinied to be my daughter. "Of course ma'm....you are right...." She assured me of Nysa's admission there. I was in some other world....I took Nysa on my hands so frantically and kissed on her cheeks, as if I am meeting her after many years....

****

Mom - Am I grown up now?: Disgruntled Employee of the Month...that 'was' me.

Souju (soujimail@gmail.com) — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 10:44:00 +0000

“We are paid peanuts.”“Unfriendly company”“Managers are damagers”“I cannot take the stress any more. My company treats me like a donkey”“No growth prospects in my present company”Have you heard these (probably said these) in your life? If not then you don’t belong to present generation of ‘normal’ employees.When I finished my schooling it was my parent’s decision to choose my subjects for my

Aur Ek Sapna: AP’s disastrous irrigation schemes slow down

mbbhushan — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 08:06:27 +0000

Jalayagnam comes to a virtual halt

NM Satheesh Indian Express 3 Nov 2009

HYDERABAD: Jalayagnam, the favourite scheme of former chief minister the late YS Rajasekhara Reddy, seems to have slided down in the list of priorities of the present government.

Leave alone the progress of the programme at the field level, even a review of it by the government has become rare in the last two months.

According to sources in the irrigation department, funding of the programme has come to a halt and the pending bills are piling up with the government.

It seems that the government is not going to spend the allocated budget Rs 18,000 crore in this financial year. The government has not released even Rs 1,000 crore for the projects in the last two months. It was decided by the regime of Rajasekhara Reddy that the government should release about Rs 1,400 crore every month to keep the projects going.

According to officials, the government has already halted payment of Rs 4,000 crore which was spent by the contractors and the construction of projects like Pulichintala which has been completed to an extent of 70 per cent is not progressing as per the schedule.

Irrigation officials say that the time table fixed by the government for the completion of 82 major and medium irrigation projects under Jalayagnam will go awry.

The YSR government had contemplated Jalayagnam to bring about one crore acres of land under irrigation facility. Under the scheme 82 projects are to be constructed at a cost of Rs 1.50 lakh crore.

Since the 20050-06 financial year the government has been spending about Rs 10,000 crore every year and has spent about Rs 50,000 crore till now. In the last five years 11 projects have been completed providing about 16 lakh acres of land with irrigation facilities.

Major projects like Polavaram, Pranahita-Chevella, Pulichintala, Ellampally, Dummugudem, Uttarandhra Sujala Sravanti and Galeru-Nagari Srujala Sravanti, which need more than Rs 20,000 crore, are yet to take off. The government is trying to secure the national project status to the Polavaram project.

As of now, about 60 projects are in various stages of construction and need about Rs 3,000 crore every month if they are to be completed in time. But the cash-strapped government is unable to release adequate funds, thus jeopardising their timely completion.

The government is now getting a revenue of about Rs 5,000 crore every month and has to spend most of the amount on salaries, maintenance, schemes like Rs 2 a kg rice, reimbursement of students’ fees, Arogya Sri, subsidy on power and seeds to farmers, subsidy to self-help groups and on the mid-day meal scheme.

Weighed down by the enormous burden the government is finding it virtually impossible to fund the irrigation projects. Hence non-release of funds in time.

Maruti: Microsoft Surface - The Possibilities

Maruti (noreply@blogger.com) — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 15:55:00 +0000

http://www.microsoft.com/surface/What is Microsoft Surface?Microsoft Surface™, the first commercially available surface computer from Microsoft Corp., turns an ordinary tabletop into a vibrant, interactive surface. The product provides effortless interaction with digital content through natural gestures, touch and physical objects. Surface is a 30-inch display in a table-like form factor that's

Sulekha: Featured Blogs: Beirut - The Capital of Lebanon

Mon, 02 Nov 2009 13:24:30 +0000

Beirut – Capital of Lebanon
Located on the extreme east of Mediterranean is a small country Lebanon. Lebanon is a country where Muslim and Christian cultures are intermingled. By spending a day in Beirut one can easily say that the Muslims have adapted themselves to the liberated west.
Lebanon has a population of about 4.5 million. There are more Lebanese in
Brazil than Lebanon itself. About 25 years back, the population comprised
of 50 % each of Christian and Muslims. Now Muslims are 60%, and Christians are 40% only. Shia and Sunni sects are equal in number.

Having a border with Israel has added many troubles to Lebanon, as those
against Israel have used this small country for their gains, and so have
the nations who are sympathizers of Israel.

War raged in Lebanon between 1975 to 1990 for 15 years. The war was
between Lebanese Christians and Muslims from Lebanon, Syria, and
Palestine. War left over 200,000 dead people. Several sites can be
observed which are dedicated to martyrs. Now politics is more than
religious problem. There are groups between Christian+Shia against
Christians+Sunni. As per their agreements when the ratios of Christians,
Shias and Sunnis were different than today, president is always a
Christian, prime minister is always Sunni, and prime deputy – always Shia.
However, today with the percentage of population changed, there is strain
to change the representation. Shia people comprise of the Hezbollah. They
are considered more powerful than Lebanese army is. They get money and
weapon from Iran & Syria.

Lebanon has been in news recently when its president Rafik Hariri was
assassinated by a blast on 14th February 2005. Further, it was under
attack from Israel when Hezbollah abducted its two soldiers. About 50,000 people were killed in Israeli bombings.

I went to Beirut several times, in different months of years, and strolled
on the streets, had local food such as Mankhush, Chewarma, Kebabs, and
Hamos with beans & oil. In addition, relished sweets like Baklawa and
Crepes. I found them to be fond of eating, drinking, and smoking Argile
(Hukka). Unlike other times this time, I had a camera and I thought to get
enough pictures to make you too see Beirut as it was seen from my eyes.
Hope you enjoy.....................

View of Beirut when approaching by ship in the months of summers.

A view of port and downtown from the ship

You can see several UN peacekeeping ships in the port. They are stationed
to protect against Israel and also to prevent illegal arm smuggling by
Hezbollah group.

A view of the larger mall by the sea as seen from the ship

Nice and well-planned roads in the downtown

A view of city while traveling. Due to friendly import rules, second hand
cars are cheaply available here. Hence, you will see abundant numbers of
second hand luxury cars like BMW, Mercedes, and Audi etc.

The sculptures indicate that the squares have been nicely planned. This
area is one of the best in the city. These are Shohada (Martyrs) Statues.

You will find these signs at many locations across the city. They are
symbolically indicating to help those who don’t have anyone to take care

One of the most famous mosques of the city located close to port. This
mosque is names after Rafiq Hariri

Same mosque by night

Interiors of the mosque. The laptops are used in conjuction with PA
systems for prayers.

Another mosque at night. It is decorated in the months of Ramadan. The
prayer timings are displaced electronically, and start almot every hour in
the month of Ramadan.

Rafiq Hariri was laid to rest here.

The last remains of the others, who were killed along with him, are
located in the same premises.

Al Fateha – Extracts of Quran – Prayer

Dora area. Indian can be found in this street. If you like cheap shopping,
you can get Chinese duplicates of many products in the shops in this
street

Locals

Local Food. Does it look any different from Indian food? I don’t think so.

They also make delicious milk shakes and fruit juices.

Mankhush – Zatar. One the most popular food.

Some special oil is painted on the “Roti,” and then stuffed with salad or
meat depending of the choice. Available in market for less than half a
dollar.

These are like ours rolls. They call it kebab. It can be of different
meats and vegetables.

Chewarma

Crepes- Another local dish. It is sweet.

The Holiday Inn hotel was bombed during 1975-1976 war.

The famous Manara Street. Just on this street behind is where Rafiq Hariri was killed. The locals come here in the morning and evening to walk on this street. It is something like walking by the sea at Nariman Point.

Area of Rawche “Ramle Biada.” It means White Sand. This is the most
expensive area of Lebanon

Turkish coffee sold on the streets. It is black coffee with different
types of flavours. This particular is with cardamom flavour. You can tell
him to add sugar to your taste but no milk.

One of the restaurants in the Rawche area. This was the month of Ramadan. All restaurants are open all night and are full. People are fond of eating out in the months of Ramadan. Many restaurants close after the months of Ramadan.

These are the food, which the posh restaurants keep outside for the
chauffeurs of the people who are their customer. Unique – isn’t it.

Peacock Rock
It is 70 m high rock in the sea. The sea is not very deep. They say that
earlier people used to commit suicide from here. Now people climb up and
jump for fun.

Peacock Rock during dusk.

Military or Roman Bath is over 400 years old, and has a lot of historical
importance. You can see the church on the right. Behind this road are few
mosques.

Sahat Al Nijmi – Star area

Does this look like a mall? Greenery nicely used to make the mall nice and
natural. Though the mall isn’t much different from the malls of ours.

Painter painting in the mall.

This is made of matchstick by a crippled person. He uses it for getting
donations.

A souvenir shop

Another souvenir shop specializing in selling Cedar items. Cutting cedar
wood is not allowed, hence make them to be rare item. When the braches dry and dead ones fall especially when snows on the mountains in winters,
these branches are brought and the souvenirs made out of them.

Aqua massage – 10 USD for 10 mins. Freshness without getting wet.

And the journey continues..........................

"ఒక ప్రపంచ పౌరుడు": మన పోలీసులు

కృష్ణశ్రీ (noreply@blogger.com) — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 15:49:00 +0000

పొట్టలు ఇదివరకోసారి వ్రాశాను--స్వాతంత్ర్య దినోత్సవం, గణతంత్ర దినోత్సవం, ఆంధ్ర రాష్ట్ర అవతరణ లాంటి సందర్భాల్లో ముఖ్యమంత్రీ, గవర్నరూ పోలీసు పెరేడ్ తిలకించి, వందనం స్వీకరించడం, ఆ పోలీసుల, అధికారుల పొట్టల గురించీ, వాళ్ళ అస్తవ్యస్త 'మార్చింగ్' గురించీ! మరి అదే మిలిటరీలో అయితే, యెంత వున్నతాధికారైనా, పొట్ట అనేది వుండదు--వాళ్ళు మార్చింగ్ చేస్తూంటే, గునపాలు క్రమబధ్ధంగా చేతులు వూపుతే వెళుతున్నట్టు

Lokabhiramam: Maharajapuram Santanam - Radio Concert

Vijayagopal (vijayagopalk@gmail.com) — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 14:31:00 +0000

This is a recording of Sri Maharajapuram Santanam's performance as a part of Radio Sangeeth Sammelan. It must be from early eighties. I have not noted any other details on the cassette. Interestingly when people like me made these recordings those days, we never thought that we will be sharing them like this on something called Internet. It is now a pleasure to listen to them again in the name

Sulekha: Featured Blogs: Pulse of London

Sun, 01 Nov 2009 13:04:17 +0000

London, how exciting that name was for me, when my husband first suggested we move here from America. For a person who never thought, will cross the International lines, moving to America was a big enough adventure, and then when fate (work permit) interfered, and he was given a job in England, my joy knew no bounds.

The first time, I visited London, after settling down in South Hampton, was one of the most exciting days for me. London, to me then was a vision – a vision of palaces, Big Ben, London Bridge, red uniformed soldiers, River Thames, double-decker red buses, Hyde park, the red telephone booths, Oxford Street, St Paul’s Cathedral, pigeons, Trafalgar Square..... having seen them only in pictures, I was like a little child that day, glued to the taxi window. My first glimpse of Big Ben, gave me a sense of awe, with the House of Parliament in the background, and River Thames, flowing like molten silver, reflecting the afternoon Sun.

I remember how I longed to get off the taxi and join the crowd-tourists, business people, shoppers, beggars and all and sundry. But, since we were on a mission, that day, time did not permit us. Very anxious then to find London Bridge, I was shocked to see London Bridge as a plain bridge and “Tower Bridge” was in fact, what I was looking for. What a sight it was, such beauty, and a magnificent piece of engineering marvel, it still has not failed to fascinate me, whenever we go to there. My version of what I thought was London Bridge, will never fall, I think!

London then became my passion. I wanted to explore every nook and cranny. Check out all the shops, visit all the museums and learn a lot about the history. My limited knowledge, from nursery rhymes or from playing “trade” or “monopoly” (as it is more popularly called), books and pictures did very little justice to the throbbing life of London and its people.

London is a beautiful mixture of the old and the new. Where else, would a royal family, still living in a palace, with a few hundred soldiers guarding the Queen and futuristic buildings, with robots and techonology people co-exist? Poets, artists, IT people, rocket scientists, Lords, Barons, fashion designers, models, actors, celebrities, opera all inter-mingle and London always appears like a flash of vibrant colours, complimenting each other.

Every street in London, has something unique. Just the name itself, is so charming. Regent Street, Oxford Circus, Covent Garden’s, Hyde Park Corner, Piccadilly Circus, Grosvenor Square, Mayfair etc etc!! Parks with beautiful lakes, monuments, church spires, Victorian architecture, exciting shops that not only sell haute-couture, but many which deal with beautiful pieces of china, and the inevitable souvenir shops.

How often does a person get to see Soldiers matching in the road-side or riding tall horses, well dressed in their red uniforms, and fur hats? It is possible everyday in London. A day in London could literally transport you from the modern age to Victorian age in a few seconds. Westminster Abbey for example, is seven hundred years old, and about 3000 people are buried there. As we walk past the monuments and memorials, familiar names spring up and the feeling of walking with poets, authors, Kings and Queens give a surreal feeling. Charles Dickens, Rudyard Kipling, Thomas Hardy sleep their eternal sleep here, and many a times as I take my guests to visit here, the temptation to just sit over their graves and muse about these wonderful people take hold of me.

London throbs with life, day and night, the night sky so attractive with all these beautiful buildings well lit, the restaurants so very inviting with exotic menu’s; the extravagant hotels tempting the palate with their special ‘high tea’ and ‘cream teas’, men and women dressed in anything from jeans to sarees to sable coats, it does make one feel royal in many ways, just spending a day in London.

Politicians and terrorists, I will not mention, coz they literally take our life. I have a long way to go before London becomes familiar to me. To sit and think about what London has gone through – the big fire, plague, bombings and still retains all its beauty (and booty) is mind boggling!

The thundering underground trains, causing slight vibrations as we walk down the streets, feels like the pulse of London, racing, echoing the fast life of the Londoners.

Big Ben

Cheers(as the English people say)

Sulekha: Featured Blogs: Toppai Maamee

Sun, 01 Nov 2009 03:58:04 +0000

My 2 year old baby kept me awake all of last night since he was not well. I kept him on my lap and was generally surfing channels on TV to pass time. Suddenly an advertisement came up for King fisher calendar girl hunt. Looking at models dressed in two piece, he immediately retorted “Ado Paaru (look there) – Toppai Mamee”. Toppai is the colloquial word for Tummy and Maamee is a south Indian terminology for Aunty. For him, it was a plain expression of fact of what he thought the model was. But then, given the background I come from, I would be very embarrassed if were to say that in public. I immediately changed the channel.

While I very strongly believe that TV has ill effects on young minds, here I am not pondering on that subject. I am trying to wonder, how we as individuals define black, white and grey to different situations. For the innocent eyes of my baby, nothing is vulgar, nothing is wrong, all is good and all is same. But then, as we grow, the society to which we belong, defines the right or wrong rules and our minds calibrate to abide by them. Our values, ethics, what is moral and what is not is pre-set in our minds. Some oppressed people rebel, but a large majority comply to this mould. What is right and what is wrong is hard cast and people are divided into silos each having a set of principles which define gold standards. Depending on which silo one fits into, each person gets branded as conservatists, modern and so on. my post on this topic can be read here.

Every society needs rules as they bind the people together and also give a direction for the society. Which is why, these have got made and are being maintained. However, today, vocation and boundary less world has integrated and inter-mingled all the elements. In this context, the rules are acting as stumbling blocks for people to connect and mingle. I am not comfortable in the presence of people who aren’t dressed in a fashion which is defined as decent by my pre-set mould. By being so, I have cut myself out to connecting a large section of the society.

While we should teach our value systems to our children, probably, we should not try and pass on our judgment on whatever falls outside our mould to them and let them explore and define their territories. Easier said than done. Tough it is going to be.

Indrakanti karthikeya: You shall reap What you sow!!

karthik (noreply@blogger.com) — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 14:34:00 +0000

SO here we are! In the middle of a war waged between two enemies, both of whom are dangerous to our survival. On one end we have a government machinery which is keen to destabilize us and on the other, a radical Islamic blood mongers who pledged to target us once they are done with the present case. Is it a situation of concern or joy or anything else? where do we stand now??? In this post I just

Lokabhiramam: Sumati Satakam 11

Vijayagopal (vijayagopalk@gmail.com) — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 13:27:00 +0000

సుమతి శతకం పగ వలదెవ్వరితోడను వగవంగా వలదు లేమి వచ్చినపిదపన్ దెగనాడవలదు సభలను మగువకు మనసియ్యవలదు మహిలో సుమతీ paga valadevvari tOdanu vagavangA valadu lEmi vacchina tOdan deganAdavaladu sabhalanu maguvaku manasiyyavaladu mahilO sumatI పగ = Enmity వలదు = should not be there ఎవ్వరితోడను = with anyone వగవంగా వలదు = Don’t repent లేమి = poverty వచ్చిన పిదపన్ = after coming తెగనాడవలదు =

Aur Ek Sapna: Truth of Displacement & Rehabilitation: GoM’s confidential Report

mbbhushan — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 06:12:54 +0000

The Hindu /Opinion 17 April 2006

GoM’s confidential report

This is the text, obtained exclusively by The Hindu, of “A Brief Note on the Assessment of Resettlement and Rehabilitation (R & R) Sites and Submergence of Villages of the Sardar Sarovar Project.” The note marked confidential and dated April 9, 2006, was signed by Union Minister of Water Resources, Saifuddin Soz, Union Minister of Social Justice and Empowerment Meira Kumar, and Minister of State in the Prime Minister’s Office Prithviraj Chauhan.

The Group of Ministers (GoM) comprising Prof. Saifuddin Soz, Minister of Water Resources, Smt. Meira Kumar, Minister of Social Justice & Empowerment and Shri Prithviraj Chavan, MOS in the PMO, deputed by the Hon’ble Prime Minister to Madhya Pradesh, arrived Indore late in the evening on April 6, 2006.

Soon after arrival in Indore, a meeting was held with Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister, Shri Shivraj Singh Chouhan and some of his Cabinet colleagues and officers.

The Madhya Pradesh Government made a presentation and wanted the GoM to appreciate that the Madhya Pradesh Government had taken concrete steps to rehabilitate Project Affected Families (PAFs) and that Rehabilitation and Resettlement would be completed by 30th June, 2006. In that connection, the GoM was requested to visit some sites such as Khalghat, Dharampuri, Lakhangaon and Borlai etc.

When asked as to how many SC/ST families were affected, the Government could not provide any information.

Early in the morning of April 7, 2006, the GoM left for a visit to Rehabilitation and Submergence sites.

The GoM visited Khalghat, Dharampuri, Lakhangaon, Borlai 1, 2 and 3, Awalda, Piplud and Nisarpur. The GoM was stopped at other places including Picchodi where people narrated their tales of woe. The representatives of Narmada Bachao Andolan (NBA) had insisted in Delhi in their memorandum that a visit to Borlai, Awalda, Piplud and Nisarpur would be necessary to find out whether the claim of the Government of Madhya Pradesh that the PAFs had been rehabilitated was correct.

Khalghat

The GoM visited Khalghat site where Madhya Pradesh Government had offered land to 407 families. Only 2 families had accepted the land. The top soil there is black. The people say that they have to dig 10 feet deep to find the cultivable land. The Government had not succeeded in persuading the oustees to accept the land. Hundreds of people on the spot complained before the GoM that the Government had not conducted a proper survey and offered the land without consulting the oustees. Shri Mohan Lal Sharma (resident of Gazipur, District Dharampuri) who spoke on behalf of oustees, complained before the members of the Narmada Valley Development Authority (NVDA) that the Madhya Pradesh Government had acted in haste and allotted the land which was totally uncultivable. The members of the NVDA did not contradict Shri Mohan Lal.

It was for the first time that the GoM heard from Shri Mohan Lal that the Income Tax Department deducted Rupees One lakh from every unit of 10 lakhs that was paid to the oustees by way of compensation and for purchase of land. It was Shri Mohan Lal again who said that people were pressurized to accept cash. He said that a bribe of Rs.20,000/- had to be paid for receipt of every cheque that was given to the oustees. The crowd present on the spot gave full-throated support to the Shri Mohan Lal who they said had represented their grievances correctly.

Dharampuri

From Khalghat, the GoM went to Dharampuri. It is the largest area selected by the Madhya Pradesh Government for settlement of oustees and 4,000 PAFs are slated to be settled there (No, they are shown to have been settled there already). Not a single plot of land has been occupied by any PAF.

Approximately 2,000 people, who had gathered there, explained through their representatives (about a dozen people explained their grievances) in detail and said that it was not possible for anybody to settle there as no infrastructure had been built. In official papers, it has been indicated that the PAFs have been settled. The GoM was amazed that no sanitation, no drinking water, no system of sewage, no roads, much less the facilities like hospital, water reservoir, school, post office etc., have been provided there. There is no hope that such infrastructure will be built there soon. The officials presented a status report in respect of R & R sites at Dharampuri indicating that facilities that need to be provided by way of infrastructure would be provided and certain facilities were in progress, whereas the GoM saw nothing happening around.

In any case, the PAFs, under no circumstances, can be settled there before first of July, 2006 when the monsoon sets in.

Dharampuri had been shown to the GoM as a success story by the Madhya Pradesh Government and it turned out to be the worst example of not doing anything by way of settlement when there was apparently no difficulty in respect of resources. The people there showed to the GoM two dry water pumps and a heap of stones that had been dumped there a day before the GoM’s arrival indicating that roads would be built soon.

Lakhangaon and Borlai 1-3

From Dharampuri, the GoM proceeded to visit R & R sites at Lakhangaon, Borlai 1st, 2nd and 3rd. The GoM saw some stray dwellings without any infrastructure such as drinking water, sewage system, electricity and roads etc.

As per the status report of the Madhya Pradesh Government, 18,965 PAFs were indicated to have been settled, whereas the GoM could see, at the most 80 incomplete dwellings in Lakhangaon, Borlai 1-3 (including the dwellings shown to the GoM at Picchodi). The GoM found that there were no amenities of life like drinking water, roads and electricity etc. anywhere. The only water reservoir in Borlai 3 was not operational. In Borlai 1-3, the GoM could not see any semblance of infrastructural facilities. In Lakhangaon, of course, some structures by way of hospital and a primary school (not functional) and three hand pumps showed the fact that a determined leadership can settle the oustees. One can see that PAFs (18 of them) here can be settled properly at Lakhangaon within next six months, provided effective effort is directed towards that goal.

Visit to Piplud, Awalda and Nisarpur

The members of Narmada Bachao Andolan had, among other things, urged the Minister for Water Resources that the GoM should visit Piplud, Awalda and Nisarpur so that GoM could ascertain properly whether the oustees from these submergence villages had been settled or not.

Piplud

Nearly 2,000 people had gathered at Piplud to state their tales of woe. They pointed out that not a single PAF had been offered cultivable agricultural land anywhere in Madhya Pradesh as per the Narmada Water Disputes Tribunal (NWDT) Award. At this place, 10 representatives explained in detail that the NWDT Award had been flouted and even land acquisition proceedings had not been completed. They narrated that many of the oustees had not been offered compensation for their houses. They also said that many of those who had been pressurized to accept cash compensation, had been given amounts of money with which they could not purchase even 2 acres of land, let alone 5 acres of land to which they were entitled. A tribal named Kailash from Bhikheda explained that more than 300 persons from Manavar Tehsil had been shown in records to have been offered one plot of land measuring 7 hectares in Borgaon and strangely enough, the land was not cultivable. The representatives of these oustees gave details how people were pressurised to accept cash compensation and how people had to pay bribes for receipt of cheques.

Awalda

The GoM next proceeded to Awalda, a far flung village inhabited mostly by adivasis and tribals. The GoM felt that, by any standards, the entire population in the village lived below the poverty line. A group of 1,500 people met the GoM there and the youth there were restive and narrated their tales of woes in a very emotional manner. It was here that people said that they had not been given land for land and that they had been pressurized to accept cash and an oustee Shri Motilal Patidar of village Chhota Barde said that he had been given Rs.5,53,000/- whereas he needed to purchase 5 acres of land for Rs.13 lakhs and this cash award was not adequate at all and he was forced to accept it. The entire crowd raised slogans against cash compensation and they said it was a fraud and officers insisted on this because they received bribes. It was in this crowd, that a woman Sajan Bhai Yadav, who had come from Pipri Gaon, narrated most pathetically how they (the oustees) had lost their home and hearth, their Khaliyan and Shamshan and they were now on the roadside. The crowd said that the Gram Sabha was never consulted and every thing was happening “Zabardasti”. The crowd said that they had no money to travel to Bhopal and seek redressal of their grievances. The people at Piplud and Awalda had categorically stated that no member of R & R Sub-committee or the Grievance Redressal Authority (GRA) ever visited these villages. It was stated in good detail that Chairman of the Redressal Authority was headquartered at Bhopal and he once in a while visited Indore and never did Justice Sohani, Chairman of the Grievance Authority visit these villages.

Nisarpur

The GoM finally came to Nisarpur where a crowd of 4,000 people voiced its grievances through 18 representatives which included four women. The administration had succeeded in telling the crowd that they must allow the representatives to present their case in an orderly manner.

So, M/s Parasmat Kanawat (having been Sarpanch of Nisarpur for 30 years) Pradeep Kumar, Bagirath Rathore, Mangti Bhai & others narrated pathetic tales of extreme high-handedness on the part of Narmada Valley Development Authority (NVDA). They categorically stated that not a single family of the PAFs in Nisarpur had been settled as per orders of the Supreme Court. They said in one voice that until they were rehabilitated, there was no question of allowing the height of the dam to be raised. They said that the R & R sites at Nisarpur which is supposed to settle 700 families of oustees did not have any infrastructure and the house plots for building their houses were located at the depressed land which gets water logged and one of the essential needs of the site was drainage, which was missing. The people said that NVDA officials claimed that R & R sites would be ready by 30th of June, 2006 and it was a rude joke to the oustees. The oustees said that these claims were absolutely false. They claimed that R & R sub-group and the GRA had never visited the Narmada Valley for the last six years. They rejected cash payments as a fraudulent practice. The crowd vociferously demanded that their Rehabilitation & Resettlement should be a pre-condition for raising the height of the dam.

General Observations

1. The complaints from various quarters that the Rehabilitation and Resettlement of oustees of Sardar Sarovar Dam has not taken place in consonance with the orders of the Supreme Court have been found to be correct.

2. In spite of the extreme shortcomings in respect of Rehabilitation and Resettlement of oustees, the Madhya Pradesh Government can organize proper effort for rehabilitation, say, within a year from now. The leadership there has to show its political will to accomplish this gigantic task.

3. The Chief Minister of Gujarat had assured the Water Resources Ministry, in a recent letter, that Rehabilitation and Resettlement in Madhya Pradesh could be fully ensured in accordance with the orders of the Supreme Court. It will have to be ascertained as to how Gujarat Government could come to the rescue of the Madhya Pradesh Government in this behalf.

4. The outcry against the SRP (cash award) must be responded by stopping this practice as it has bred corruption and thousands of people the GoM met in the valley, have rejected the same as a practice breeding corruption. Besides, this practice has been adopted by the State Government with the approval of the GRA. It is yet to be seen whether the Supreme Court would find this practice to be in line with its specific instruction which said: “every displaced family whose more than 25% of agricultural landholding was acquired would be entitled to be allotted irrigable land of its choice to the extent of land acquired subject to the prescribed ceiling with a minimum of two hectares land and that project-affected families (PAFs) would be allotted a house/plot free of cost”.

5. The GoM found that there was no moral and legal justification for deducting Rupees One lakh by way of Income Tax for every unit of Rupees Ten lakhs that is to be given to an oustee as a settlement under SRP.

6. In due course of time, the Government must explore a better system of redressal of grievances than what is sought under the present GRA. It is a fact that 5000 petitions for redressal of grievance are pending before the GRA. The Chairman of the GRA is headquartered at Bhopal and his visits even to Indore are few and far between which has meant a great hardship for the oustees.

7. The position of the adivasis (oustees), particularly in the areas like Kakrana and Kharia Bhadal, which the GoM could not visit, is reportedly very bad. The GoM will pay a visit there if required, in due course of time.

8. The Ministry of Water Resources had been insisting that Madhya Pradesh Government should adopt the mechanism of referring ATRs to Gram Panchayats according to the previous Government’s assurance given in the then Chief Minister’s letter of 29th August, 2003. Since the Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister has finally responded positively on this issue recently, the ATRs will now be sent to Gram Panchayats, as stated by the Chief Minister in his meeting with us on April 7, 2006. That will, however, not have any effect on the problems at hand.

9. The GoM felt concerned about SCs & STs for whom there doesn’t seem to be any special provision in respect of Rehabilitation and Resettlement.

10. The reports of the Rehabilitation and Resettlement Sub Group and the GRA on the basis of which Narmada Control Authority (NCA) granted permission for raising the height has been largely paperwork and it has no relevance with the situation on the ground.