Dantewada: The state government of Chhattisgarh has resumed the technical survey for the Bodhghat Multipurpose Project on the Indravati river, thereby giving way to the massive ₹49,000-crore dam project. Despite the efforts of officials to promote this huge project as a momentous step in the development of the erstwhile Maoist-affected Bastar area, this decision has caused widespread panic and anxiety among the affected tribals.
Dantewada District Collector Devesh Dhruv has said that the agencies working on the survey have completed about 60% of the process and have about seven to eight months ahead of them to conduct the overall surveying work. The project which was first planned back in 1979 received backing from the World Bank in 1984 and was subsequently stopped entirely in 1987 due to strong opposition against it.
However, the new initiative has brought up these very concerns once again. It is estimated that this 67-meter-high dam would inundate almost 13,700 hectares of land, of which more than 5,700 hectares would be forests.
A total of 56 Adivasi hamlets are at risk of either total or partial submergence, leaving many households vulnerable to displacement and the loss of centuries-old sacred sites. The main trigger behind the increasing tension is a lack of information about resettlement. As reported by tribal communities, the government does not communicate any details on the resettlement process and places of rehabilitation.
According to activists associated with the Chhattisgarh Bachao Andolan, undertaking a survey in the Fifth Schedule area without formal consent from Gram Sabhas violates the Constitution. While government representatives emphasize the positive impact of the proposed project on agricultural development in the region through irrigation of almost 3.78 lakh hectares in three districts and provision of up to 300 MW of power generation, village residents perceive themselves as victims.
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