Political pressure has restarted work on the Maheshwar Hydel Project Dam. Baba Umar examines the mess beneath
WHY IS the PMO intervening? Do Madhya Pradesh chief ministers, past and present, have personal interests in the project? After Union Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh decided to revoke the stop-work order on the Maheshwar Hydel Project Dam on the Narmada under pressure, uncomfortable questions are being raised.
Stung by this decision, Narmada Bachao Andolan (NBA) activists, looking for reasons behind Manmohan Singh’s intervention in the “unviable” project, alleging that it was cleared on the basis of false declarations of the Madhya Pradesh government about resettlement and rehabilitation (R&R) and financial irregularities on the part of the project promoters.
“Shree Maheshwar Hydel Power Corporation Limited (SMHPCL), promoters of this project, have not complied with the conditions of environmental clearance, especially those relating to R&R of the affected people,” said NBA activists Chittaroopa Palit and Alok Agrawal.
The Maheshwar hydel dam has been at the nucleus of a decades-old agitation. The dam was cleared by the MoEF in 2001 and is slated to deliver 400 MW of power and supply drinking water to Indore. In February 2010, the ministry stopped construction of the final set of the five gates in the dam because of poor progress on rehabilitation of about 9,400 families.
However, on 6 May, Jairam Ramesh reversed his decision by lifting the stopwork order, referring to correspondences between MP CM Shivraj Singh Chauhan and former CM Digvijaya Singh and the PM, lobbying for the continuation of the project. The order copy also mentioned a series of review meetings convened by the PM’s office, an indication that the new order was probably issued under relentless pressure.
“I’ve no option but to agree to lift the stop-work order on the construction of the last five spillway gates,” said Ramesh, adding that the Union power secretary too had written to him seeking permission to construct the remaining gates. The minister is also unimpressed with the state government’s claim of 70 percent rehabilitation having been completed. He says it was “not at all convincing”.
The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) has already indicted the state’s industrial board for sanctioning crores to the project promoters. Plus, the Economic Offences Wing of the state had filed an FIR against the erstwhile promoters and directors of Induj Enertech Limited (holding company of SMHPCL) for fraud, cheating, and criminal conspiracy.
The CAG has also charged the Power Finance Corporation for an out-of-turn allotment of Rs 100 crore to the project. The project, say NBA activists, will produce only 1 percent of the total electricity output of the state. Only 20 percent of 70,000 affected have been given houses and only 6 percent have shifted.
“No affectee has been given mandatory agricultural land as per the R&R policy,” said the NBA activists. “As per the statutory binding clearance, construction work was to be in pace with R&R measures. More than 80 percent of the construction work has been completed, against a measly 3 percent of the R&R measures.” The NBA activists are now demanding a CBI inquiry into the financial irregularities of the project and its promoters.
The project has the backing of Congress General Secretary and former CM Digvijaya Singh. He supports the project, which “if allowed to be completed by the NBA, would be highly beneficial”.
“I believe R&R has always been under the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment and not the MoEF,” he says. “But there is a Supreme Court ruling that asks for ‘pari passu’ implementation of R&R in pace with progress in project construction, which the state government has taken note of.” The Congress stalwart also denied having any assets in the project or promoting a company (SMHPCL), which has charges of economic offences against it.
“I am not in favour of promoting any company but the project,” he avers.
