annual report print final.qxd - Asian Centre for Human Rights

INDIA HUMAN RIGHTS REPORT 2005 Madhya Pradesh
for the Narmada, the Sardar Sarovar dam
(proposed height is 136.5 m) is the largest
and is likely to displace more than 320,000
tribal people and affect the livelihood of
thousands of others. 54
On 8 October 2000, the Supreme Court
authorised construction upto the originally
planned height of 138m in 5-meter
increments subject to receiving approval
from the Relief and Rehabilitation
Subgroup of the Narmada Control
Authority. The Narmada Water Disputes
Tribunal Award stated that land should be
made available to the oustees at least a year
in advance before submergence. 55 However,
the state government failed to implement
the directions of the Supreme Court and the
Narmada Water Disputes Tribunal Award.
Yet, on 13 March 2004, the Narmada
Control Authority (NCA) allowed the
raising of the Sardar Sarovar dam height
to 110 metres. At least 10,000 families in
Madhya Pradesh and at least 1500 tribal
families in Maharashtra were under
threats of submergence and displacement
without any resettlement. On 8 May
2004, over 200 tribal families from nine
villages on the banks of Narmada,
affected by the 110 meters of the Sardar
Sarovar dam, launched the Bhoomi Hakk
Satyagraha (land right Satyagraha) by
occupying the denuded forest land in
Nandurbar district in Maharashtra. The
state government failed to provide them
with land-based resettlement, despite
repeated assurances, recommendations by
government appointed committees and
written declarations. 56
140
VII. Status of Madhya Pradesh
State Human Rights Commission
Madhya Pradesh State Human Rights
Commission reportedly registered a total
of 13,438 cases from 1 April 2003 to 25
February 2004. Of these 7,452 were
resolved and 3,205 pending cases were
settled. 57 Maximum number of complaints
relate to police atrocities. 58
There are reports of non-compliance of
the Commission’s recommendations by the
state government. During the period of
1999-2004, the Commission recommended
324 cases to the state government for
paying compensation, out of which 94 were
fully complied by the state government and
41 were partially followed, thus leaving 230
cases still pending compliance. The State
Human Rights Commission had 4497
pending complaints in 2000-01, 8760
complaints in 2001-02, 10,389 complaints
in 2002-03, and 13,170 complaints in 2003-
04. 59 In February 2004, Justice R D Shukla
after his retirement as chairman of the
MPSHRC reportedly admitted that the state
government had been non-cooperative and
there was lack of coordination among the
fellow members of the Commission. 60
In April 2004, Madhya Pradesh State
Human Rights Commission
recommended payment of Rs 5,000 as
compensation to an aged blacksmith,
Hiralal Lohapita, for willful harassment
and beating by Bairagarh police two-and
a-half year ago. In his complaint to the
Commission, Ramprasad Lohapita, the
victim’s son, alleged that policemen
headed by the Bairagarh station in-charge