HARSUD (MADHYA PRADESH): Crumbling brick walls stand in the sea of rubble that this town has been reduced to after nearly half its population was forced to relocate to a new township 17 km away. Harsud, which will be submerged by the Indira Sagar dam, still has many residents who have not moved. Discontent and anger are rife in both the old and the new towns on the issue of livelihood.

Families in the devastated town complain that they have not been given compensation though they are legitimate residents. Others such as Gangabai, set out early in the morning with a sickle and a plastic bag to look for scrap which she sells for Rs. 20. She complains that there is no agricultural work.

Living in misery

Living among the ruins are Kala and her family, who came from Dhar district a year ago. She earns Rs. 70 a day for breaking down the houses, while her husband gets Rs. 100. The irony of the situation is compounded by the fact that the former residents of the town live in utter misery and many do not have work. The Rozgar Adhikar Yatra — the employment guarantee march — passed through some of these areas in Khargone, Khandwa and Harda districts which will be submerged by the Indira Sagar and the upper Veda dam on a tributary of the Narmada.

Alok Agarwal of the Narmada Bachao Andolan and also part of the Jan Sangharsh Morcha, a coalition of mass organisations in Madhya Pradesh told The Hindu that people who have lost their land have lost their livelihood as well. While many do not have jobs, even those who have, have them snatched from them. The major issue in many districts, some of them among the most backward in the country, is the loss of livelihood due to different kinds of displacement.

Nowhere is this more apparent than in New Harsud, at Chanera, where about 2,000 families have been resettled. According to Rupesh: "We were moved in a single day from our old town where even the hawkers earned Rs. 1,000 a day. Now people have no work and nothing to eat."

Shamabi, in a fiery speech at a meeting, said: "People could earn Rs. 50 a day by selling firewood earlier, but now there is nothing to sell. Widows are left without financial security and we cannot even earn Rs. 10 a day."

The Government has not addressed the issue of jobs for the displaced. Anita, a landless labourer says: "I used to get a lot of work in the fields near Harsud. We haven't had any work in the 11 months since we moved here. I don't even have Rs. 10 to commute to look for work. When we complain to the Government, they say we should live on our compensation. How long can that money [about Rs. 47,500 per head] last?"

Kamlabai used to cook and earn a living. "In the last eight months I've barely had money to buy flour," she says. Her son, Hare Singh says: "I had a tea stall and used to earn Rs. 200 a day but now I am so frustrated. They gave me Rs. 47,500 for a house but I borrowed money to build it. They also promised us Rs. 25,000 if we left before June 30 last year. I am yet to see that money."

Fighting displacement

At Udaipur village in Khargone district, which is one of the 14 to be displaced by the Rs. 100-crore dam on the Veda river, people are fighting displacement. Banabai says: "I own 15 acres of land and I refuse to move because I don't want cash as compensation." There is little work in the village even now and about 30 per cent of the villagers move out every year. Villagers are sure their displacement will only worsen the situation.

Kamal Mitra Chenoy, Professor, International Studies at the Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, who is travelling with the Yatra, said the present trend of economic development is leading to job losses and there must be safeguards against that. "The whole analysis of those below the poverty line is flawed. While food grain availability has reduced by 12.3 per cent between 1991-2002 and rural unemployment has gone up by 5.26 % between 1993-2000, how can the Government say the poverty has reduced?" he asked. The Government norm in 2004 is that only those who earn below Rs. 344 a month are below the poverty line, which is equal to about Rs. 11 a day — which is not even the cost of a bottle of water. According to Jean Dreze, economist and member of the National Advisory Council (NAC), unemployment is also a form of displacement. Where there is no work, there is constant migration, he says. Suneet Chopra, joint secretary, All India Agricultural Workers Union says that in these parts of the State, displacement is of various kinds. About 200 Adivasi families had their homes burnt in the forest areas of Khargone district recently.

There is massive displacement but no rehabilitation.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

National

News: Front Page | National | Tamil Nadu | Andhra Pradesh | Karnataka | Kerala | New Delhi | Other States | International | Opinion | Business | Sport | Miscellaneous | Engagements |
Advts: Classifieds | Employment | Obituary | Updates: Breaking News |