From: adve@cs.wisc.edu (Vikram S. Adve)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.indian,soc.culture.indian.telugu,soc.culture.tamil
Subject: URGENT Appeal: World Bank Funding of the Sardar Sarovar Project
Keywords: Narmada, Dam, World Bank, Funding, Signature Campaign
Date: 9 Oct 92 23:33:39 GMT
Organization: University of Wisconsin-Madison


   URGENT APPEAL: WORLD BANK FUNDING OF THE SARDAR SAROVAR PROJECT


THE ISSUE:
        The World Bank has deferred decision on financing the Sardar
        Sarovar Dam Project till October 16, 1992. There are indications
        that this delay has been introduced so that the directors who
        intended to vote against the project can be pursuaded to change
        their minds. It is, therefore, important that we intensify
        pressure on the World Bank to stop funding the
        Sardar Sarovar Project.

WHAT YOU CAN DO:
        If you would like to include your name in a list of people
	opposed to funding of the project, send e-mail to
                sign-narmada@nacho.cs.wisc.edu
        giving your FULL NAME and COMPLETE POSTAL ADDRESS.
	This must reach us before Wednesday, October 14.


We (names and e-mail addresses below) are collecting e-mail signatures
of those opposing the Sardar Sarovar Project. We will collect these
signatures until Wednesday, October 14, and send copies of these to:

1. Mr. Lewis Preston, President, The World Bank
2. Mr. J.S. Bajpai, Executive Director for India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka
   at the World Bank
3. Deborah Moore, Environmental Defense Fund.

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We are opposed to the World Bank funding the Sardar Sarovar Project because:

--  The project will submerge tens of thousands of acres of forests
    and farms, destroy fisheries, increase disease, and force more 
    than 100,000 tribal and rural people off their land;
    
--  Economic assessment is flawed. Benefits are overstated while the
    social and environmental costs are frequently understated. For
    example, while 85,000 hectares of forest area is drowned, the
    afforestation grant only covers 3,000 hectares;
    
--  No comprehensive environmental impact assessment was ever completed;
    
--  Resettlement and rehabilitation plan is incomplete and inadequate.
    A large tribal population will be displaced without adequate
    compensation;
    
--  Technical analysis suggests the dams will not perform as advertised,
    will not deliver the supply of drinking water as promised, and the 
    irrigation benefits are exaggerated;
    
--  Sedimentation, salinity, waterlogging and drainage problems may make
    the project less effective. Studies show that siltation will make
    the project useless in 15 years. 57% of the Narmada basin is clay soil
    with waterlogging problems. The existing dams have only worsened this;
    
--  Threat of waterborne diseases not assessed and no safeguards taken;
    
--  An independent commission appointed by the World Bank (The Morse
    Commission) has found that the project is "flawed, the resettlement
    and rehabilitation are impossible under the prevailing circumstances
    and the environmental impacts are not properly considered;"
    
--  No provisions are made for wildlife relocation;
    
--  Alternatives such as groundwater development, mini/micro-hydel dams,
    minor irrigation schemes, energy conservation, etc are not fully
    explored; and
    
--  The Planning Commission of India suggested after evaluating the
    performance of large dams that the focus should be on better
    management of existing projects. As of 1983, of the 215 major and 
    916 medium irrigation projects taken up since 1951, 176 major and 
    446 medium projects were still to be completed.

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For more information, contact any of the undersigned.
Alternatively, background material on the Sardar Sarovar Project is
available through anonymous ftp from nacho.cs.wisc.edu (128.105.8.15)
in directory pub (see file README for more information).

adve@cs.wisc.edu                        Vikram Adve
aparna@mipos2.intel.com,               	Aparna Krishnan
bhattach@eecs.umich.edu			Sayan Bhattachacharya
budaraju@cae.wisc.edu,			Srinivas Budaraju
ddsharma@cs.tamu.edu,			Debendra Das Sharma
gchacko@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu,  	George Chacko
gujar@ie.engr.wisc.edu,			Ravi Gujar
jagan@ctr.columbia.edu,			S.V. Jagannnath
kkb@utah.univel.com,			Kalyan Banerjee
rajesh@phakt.usc.edu,			Rajesh Krishnan
rajesh@quince.wpi.edu,			Rajesh Raman
regis@s35.prime.com,			Charles Regis
suchitra@sloth.astro.unc.edu,		Suchitra Balachandran
uk00006@ukpr.uky.edu,			Bindu Mohanty
venkat@smsc.sony.com,			Sujatha Venkat

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"We do not expect perfect justice; in an imperfect world it cannot be obtained.
There is no doubt that in the national interest, people can be required to
resettle. However, India, in conformity with the development of international
standards of human rights, has subscribed to certain minimum conditions
that must be observed even when the national interest is involved. They
reflect the inalienable human rights of the oustees. We believe that these
norms must be adhered to.

Nor do we insist upon an unattainable standard in environmental impact
assessment and mitigation. However, to construct the Sardar Sarovar Project,
India has availed itself of world-class engineering technology. Should it
settle for less than adequate standards in the application of social and
environmental science?"

                        -The Morse Commission, June 1992