12 Narmada project oustees attempt suicide, arrested #WTFnews

All the 14 who attempted suicide are natives of Gadher village in Narmada district, and were rehabilitated in Baroli in 1992. They were given promise of remuneration by the government in lieu of their land, acquired for Sardar Sarovar project. As per their demands, they were promised alternate land and a government job to one member from each family. Under the scheme, the authority had listed the elders of the family as affected.

SSPA’s Mandate• To improve the agricultural production, income generating capacity and living standards of PAFs as compared to the levels prior to their displacement.• R&R to be planned and implemented as a development programme.• To be integrated socially and economically with the host communities.

Source: Govt Website of Sardar Sarovar Pariyojana Asargrast

12 Narmada project oustees attempt suicide, arrested

DNA, Ahmadabad, 7 October 2014

Those who tried committing suicide are natives of Gadher village in Narmada district, and were rehabilitated in Baroli way back in 1992The oustees jumped into Narmada canal but were rescued

dna correspondent @dnaahmedabad

Nasvadi/Chhota Udepur: Claiming refusal of their promised remuneration under the rehabilitation scheme for Sardar Sarovar project for years, 12 persons attempted to commit suicide by jumping in Narmada canal near Baroli village of Chhota Udepur on Monday morning. However, the swimmer policemen deputed on the canal rescued them all. Initially, 14 people had decided to commit suicide, but two of them were arrested by the police before they tried to dive.

Prior to the incident, the 14 suicide attempters had written a letter to the local police and Mamlatdar of Nasvadi taluka on Sunday, letting the authority know of their plan. Following this, as a precaution measure, the district superintendent of police deployed 30 policemen in civil dress on the canal. The police also tried searching for them in villages they reside, but all of them had left the place by the time they reached. SP, Chhota Udepur, Rajan Sushra said, “We received a request from the Commissioner of Rehabilitation authority on Sunday night. Initially, we tried finding them in their residences but they had left even before the cops arrived. Later, their locations were traced through their mobile phones. They were all in vicinity of 3-4 km of the canal. We were able to rescue all 14 of them, who are booked under IPC 309 for attempting to suicide.”

While the 14 attempted to suicide, other errant villagers present at the spot chased the cops and tried stopping them from rescuing the former. One such agitator, Nageen said, “We have been requesting and sending memorandums to the authorities for last 22 years, but we have not received any response. This was our final attempt to awaken them.”

According to police sources, the agitators had earlier too attempted suicide around a year ago, but were rescued. “We had received the letter from the affected people, but their claims are unjust. The Narmada authority has given them remuneration as per the rule, but what they are demanding is for their next generation, which the rule does not permit,” said Jenu Devan, collector, Chhota Udepur.

According to social activist Rohit Prajapati, “Government is not paying heed to their problems, but exploiting the emotions in name of Narmada as state’s lifeline. These people can’t be called as suicide attempters, as the authority forced them to take the extreme step. Despite of years of hardship, they have not been benefited. NHRC or HC should take suo motu cognizance of this incident, and register a case against Gujarat government.” Attempts to contact the commissioner of Sardar Sarovar Pariyojana Asargrast (SSPA), failed as they were unavailable.