[News] Surya project: Thane adivasis' Waterloo
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Surya project: Thane adivasis' Waterloo |
Surya project: Thane adivasis' Waterloo The proposed diversion of waters of the Surya Irrigation Project to the newly-planned CIDCO Colony in Vasai-Virar is a classic example of lopsided development, wherein the state is engaged in robbing rural areas to fuel unsustainable development in urban centres. To adivasis of Thane district, the transfer of their water resources is a state-sponsored loot of their collective wealth earmarked for their development under the Fifth Five Year Plan. The Surya Major Irrigation Project was approved by the Planning Commission and the Central Water Resources Commission in 1975. Two dams were built at Dhamni and Kavdas in Jawhar taluka on Surya river, a tributary of Vaitarna. The project was to provide irrigation facilities to 92 villages in Dahanu, Jawhar and Palghar. Eighty-eight of these villages fall within the Scheduled Area. Despite the fact that the area gets high rainfall, the adivasis who form the bulk of the population eke out a miserable existence on a single crop. Malnutrition deaths are recurrent inthe tribal belt, and post-monsoon, entire families migrate for work. It was to prevent this migration and `benefit backward Adivasi areas' by providing for a second crop that Surya Project was approved. The state thought it prudent to utilise funds earmarked for tribal development instead of the budgets under the irrigation department. The fact that about Rs 130 crore of the total Rs 145.9 crore meant for tribal development were used to harness the area's water resources shows whom the state envisaged as real beneficiaries. Proponents of the pipeline diversion scheme know they have no moral or financial claim over the Surya waters. But pressures from builders and contractors, who have converted Harit Vasai into a nightmare impinge heavily on the state, particularly after they've all but exhausted Vasai's ground water resources. They argue that while the pipeline will divert water to Vasai, this won't be at the expense of the project. They say diversion of water is a temporary measure to utilisethe already harnessed but unutilised waters of the Surya Project. As the Left Bank Canal and the distributary canals are still incomplete, they argue the impounded waters in Dhamni and Kavdas dams far exceed the water utilised today for a second crop. This `surplus water' at the rate of 100 million litres per day (mld) is sought to be utilised for Vasai-Virar till 2007 AD. After 2007, they argue, the needs of Vasai-Virar would be met through construction of another storage near the present one at Kavdas in Surya valley. On the face of it, the argument appears flawless. Scarce, unutilised water resources must be utilised to fulfil needs of a parched population. But why is it that after 23 years, waters of the Surya project remain unutilised for irrigation purposes? With the order of the revenue and forest department on 25.3.1996, wherein alternative land for compensatory afforestation was provided to the forest department, the last objection for construction of canals through forest land was removed. Yetafter two years, work on the canals remains at a standstill. If the work were to be taken up in right earnest, it would be completed in a matter of months. But then, would the so-called `surplus waters' be available? Local villagers claim the work on the Surya project continues to be deliberately delayed to artificially create an `unutilised water surplus' that can then be `diverted.' Anyway, the government has nowhere spelt out the scientific basis for arriving at the magic date of 2007 AD. The high sedimentation rate due to the catchment area's barren hillsides has greatly reduced the storage capacity of the reservoirs at Dhamni and Kavdas, further decreasing the water available for irrigation. With the help of a World Bank loan, the state will be spending Rs 268 crore to lay the pipeline and complete other constructions to provide the water of the project to Vasai-Virar. This is only a temporary measure till other sources are tapped in Surya valley. Initially, the government stated on oath - in awrit petition filed in 1996, in Bombay High Court - that the Surya water would be diverted only till 1996. But the government has extended the `temporary' permission till 2007 AD. What is the guarantee that a further extension will not be granted? Already, a significant amount of the Surya water has been diverted to MIDC, Tarapur, the Atomic Power Station, Tarapur, and the BSES Thermal Power Station, Dahanu. This diversion is permanent. What guarantee is there to prevent the proposed temporary pipeline from becoming permanent? And assuming the pipeline is only a temporary measure, will the state permit it to lie in disuse from 2007 onwards, after having spent Rs 268 crore on it? The strange logic of development financing is forcing a Rs 145 crore project to fall into disuse by spending Rs 268 crore on a new project. Why has the state preferred not to explore smaller water sources much nearer to Vasai, which can collectively serve the needs of Vasai's population? The Ghateghar (8 million litres per day -8 mld), Sativali (7.10 mld), Rajivali (2.7 mld), Kholsapada (34 mld), Warna nalla (55 mld), Usgaon (10 mld) and Kaman (52.10 mld) schemes can collectively provide about 170 million litres of water per day, at a cost of Rs 124 crore. This is almost double the potential of the proposed Surya pipeline, at less than half the cost. The draft plan itself mentions that ``the capital cost and operational costs'' of schemes like the Surya Scheme ``is therefore bound to be high.'' This will unnecessarily push up the water rates that Vasai residents will have to cough up. ``Tanker-free'' villages remains only a slogan. The diversion of water resources of the adivasis will force them to leave their villages and occupy slums that will mushroom in urban Vasai, aggravating the water scarcity there.According to the new Panchayat law for Scheduled Areas, it is mandatory for the state to consult the Gram Sabha, i.e. the village community, prior to construction of any development project. But work on the pipeline to transfer water resources is taking place regardless of the Act's provisions. When the adivasis demand planned implementation of the Surya project, they're being told a change of use-patterns of the project is necessary in the nation's larger interest. Whose nation, they ask - that of the handful of builders and contractors whose buildings with poor water facilities fetch poor prices? Or that of thousands of farmers and poor peasants? It's nobody's contention that Vasai residents don't have a severe water problem. But why have adivasis and local farmers to sacrifice their resources to somehow clear up the mess that ill-conceived land dereservation policies and lack of urban planning have created? Hundreds of tribal and other local farmers, under the banner of Surya Dharan Sangharsh Samiti recently held a satyagraha and courted arrest at Dhuktan village (Palghar taluka), where work on the proposed pipeline is in progress. They ask these same questions. The point is, will they be properlyanswered? (The writer is a social activist and researcher with Kashtakari Sanghatana in Dahanu, Thane district) Copyright © 1998 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.
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When the adivasis demand planned implementation of the Surya project, they're being told a change of use-patterns of the project is necessary in the nation's larger interest.
Whose nation, they ask - that of the handful of builders and contractors whose buildings with poor water facilities fetch poor prices? Or that of thousands of farmers and poor peasants? It's nobody's contention that Vasai residents don't have a severe water problem.
But why have adivasis and local farmers to sacrifice their resources to somehow clear up the mess that ill-conceived land dereservation policies and lack of urban planning have created? Hundreds of tribal and other local farmers, under the banner of Surya Dharan Sangharsh Samiti recently held a satyagraha and courted arrest at Dhuktan village (Palghar taluka), where work on the proposed pipeline is in progress. They ask these same questions. The point is, will they be properly answered?
AYUSH Adivasi Yuva Shakti
AYUSH Adivasi Yuva Shakti
