Narmada Dammed: An Inquiry into the Politics of Development

by Dilip D'Souza

Following the judgement on the Sardar Sarovar dame, the author tries to understand the issues dividing opinion on it. He reveals that the way such dams have been conceived should disturb us all, as they seem to be built, more for the sake of politics than for solving the problems of water, floods and power.

212 pages, Paperback

First published January 31, 2002

Reviews

[Kiran Hegde · Rating 4 out of 5]

First of all this book is not about Medha Patkar and her Narmada Bachao Adlolan. Dams that are marketed as symbol of development is combined with nationalism and anyone who is asking questions about it is branded an anti nationalist. The book has done painstaking efforts about why mega projects always fails on rehabilitation and resettlement component. Isn't it the an irony as the chapter starts in a pitch dark area which is meters away from the dam reservoir, and the same dam was suppose to get the electricity. Interesting read on dam on river Nile, which before was fertile but not faces drought. If one thinks the courts of India as the guardian of justice, read the judgment as explained by the author, wherein in the final order it is mentioned that the dams will provide drinking water for the parched areas of Rajasthan, but in the same breathe Rajasthan only benefit from the project is hydel electricity. Thus there remains an ambiguity as to who benefits from the project. Those living in parched areas of Gujarat and Saurashtra would be relived by drought by year 2025, yes you read it correct, a full 30 years after and god knows who is going to check then whether it happens or not.

[Harsh Panchal]

The book is a detailed analysis of the concepts of a dam for the national development and its effect on the human environment. In the developing countries dams are considered as a sign of development because of the water and electricity benefits but on the other hand, it also brings a lot of environmental and human loss which is never thought of by the government.
The book has answered every point of view of the dam from the perspective of government to the people displaced and also to the people who were about to get benefit from the dams in the arid areas of Gujarat.
It is must read for those who want an unbiased analysis of the whole Narmada dam issue.