Tuesday, 09 May , 2006, 17:57
New Delhi: Describing the Supreme Court’s judgement rejecting the plea for stopping construction work at the Narmada Dam as “shocking”, NBA leader Medha Patkar on Tuesday vowed to continue her campaign against the “injustice” meted out to the people displaced by the dam.
The NBA leader, along with a number of activists including noted writer Arundhati Roy, organised a sit-in before the Supreme Court to mark her protest against the decision.
She accused the Centre of “making a mockery of its role with regard to rehabilitation of the project affected families, especially adivasis.”
“If this is the response by the system, we will have no alternative but to take it by the horns,” she said adding she wanted to show that NBA activists were undeterred by any “pressure”.
She also slammed some media organisations for being “puppets in the hands of industrialists” and publishing news reports “without verifying facts”.
Patkar also challenged Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi, who had talked of taking action against those who wanted to stop construction of the dam in the name of rehabilitation, to do so against her. “We are not afraid of such hollow threats”, she said.
Patkar also expressed disagreement with the Courts justification for postponing the decision on the raising of the dam height on the ground of “disputed facts.”
The apex court had on Monday declined NBA’s plea to stop the ongoing construction work to raise the height of Sardar Sarovar Dam from the existing 110 to 121.92 meters at this stage.

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