D AM S HAME illions of people in central India may have to trade a rich archaeological heritage for electricity and drinking water with the construction of the Narmada River Dam. The Archaeological Survey of India is making arrangements to preserve and relocate Baji Rao's tomb.
Plans are now under way to rescue the temple and other important structures.
Protesters concerned about the dam's environmental and human impact took the case to India's highest court, but after six years of legal wrangling, the project was given the go-ahead to resume last fall. Now, the dam-building continues in spite of a report that the benefits afforded by the world's dams have not been worth their costs. The report was released by the World Commission on Dams and sponsored by the World Bank, which withdrew funding from the Narmada Dam project in 1993.