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WRIT PETITION:

The Narmada Bachao Andolan (NBA), a Non-Governmental Organization which has been in the forefront of the agitation against the construction of the Sardar Sarovar Dam filed a writ petition before this Court raising several issues including relief and rehabilitation.
Before this Court a grievance was raised as regard the attitude on the part of the State of Madhya Pradesh as it made an attempt to wriggle out of its responsibilities to provide rehabilitation facilities to the oustees by offering them cash compensation. A contention was further raised that since offers to oustees affected at the 90 metres of the height of the dam to be settled in the State of Madhya Pradesh had not been made, further construction should not be permitted till one year after the resettlement of these project-affected families (PAFs) at 90 metres.
"...The impression which one gets after reading the affidavit on behalf of the State of Madhya Pradesh clearly is that the main effort of the said State is to try and convince PAFs that they should go to Gujarat whose rehabilitation package and effort is far superior to that of the State of Madhya Pradesh. It is, therefore, not surprising that a vast majority of PAFs of Madhya Pradesh have opted to be resettled in Gujarat but that does not by itself absolve the State of Madhya Pradesh of its responsibility to take prompt steps so as to comply at least with the provisions of the Tribunal's award relating to relief and rehabilitation. The State of Madhya Pradesh has been contending that the height of the dam should be lowered to 436 ft. so that lesser number of people are dislocated but we find that even with regard to the rehabilitation of the oustees at 436 ft. the R&R programme of the State is nowhere implemented. The State is under an obligation to effectively resettle those oustees whose choice is not to go to Gujarat. Appropriate directions may, therefore, have to be given to ensure that the speed in implementing R&R picks up. Even the interim report of Mr. Justice Soni, GRA for the State of Madhya Pradesh, indicates lack of commitment on the State's part in looking to the welfare of its own people who are going to be under the threat of ouster and who have to be rehabilitated. Perhaps the lack of urgency could be because of lack of resources, but then the rehabilitation even in Madhya Pradesh is to be at the expense of Gujarat. A more likely reason could be that, apart from electricity, the main benefit of the construction of the dam is to be of Gujarat and to a lesser extent to Maharashtra and Rajasthan. In a federal set-up like India, whenever any such inter-State project is approved and work undertaken the States involved have a responsibility to cooperate with each other. There is a method of settling the differences which may arise amongst there like, for example, in the case of inter-State water dispute the reference of the same to a Tribunal. The award of the Tribunal being binding, the States concerned are duty-bound to comply with the terms thereof.

The Applicants of both the interlocutory applications are, thus, before us.

ADMITTED FACT:

It is neither in doubt nor in dispute that applicants herein are PAFs within the meaning of the Award of the Tribunal. It is also not in dispute that acquisition of the land took place, so far as village Jalsindhi is concerned, in terms of the provisions of the Land Acquisition Act in the year 1991 whereas in respect of village Picchodi, it took place in 2000. It is furthermore not in dispute that the applicants belonging to both villages Picchodi and Jalsindhi come within the purview of the PAFs, at the height of 95 meters to 100 meters of construction of the dam. It also stands admitted that present height of the dam is 110 meters. 



	Status of R&R at Dam Height EL 95 Mts of MP PAFs

Date                Total 	   	       Claimed as Resettled
Balance	          Option of		Source of

                     no. of
                     Balance	 	information

                     PAFs	      In MP    In Guj.    Total
                     MP    Gujarat
Aug 29, 2001 7913 1327 2584 3911 4002 2554 1448 Agenda of 50th Meeting of R&R Sub-Group Nov 11, 2001 7913 1587 2684 4271 3570 1902 1668 RCNCA (CMs) meeting Jan 07, 2002 7913 1670 3360 5030 2883 2693 190 Minutes of 51st meeting of R&R Sub-Group Feb 08, 2002 7913 1670 3360 5030 2883 2693 190 Agenda of 52nd meeting of R&R Sub-Group June 31, 2002 3071* 1990 1036 3026 45 45 0 Quarterly Status Report, NCA Nov 14, 2002 3710* 2443 1198 3641 69 69 0 Minutes of 54th Nov 14, 2002 3710* 2443 1198 3641 69 69 0 Minutes of 54th Meeting of R&R Sub-Group Dec 31, 2002 3710* 2443 1243 3686 24 24 0 Half Yearly Status Report, NCA May 13, 2003 3692* 2434 1258 3692 0 0 0 Minutes of 55th Meeting of R&R Sub-Group June 31, 2003 3692* 2434 1256 3692 0 0 0 Half Yearly Status Report, NCA *PAFs whose lands are temporarily under submergence due to 1 in 100 flood have not been considered for R&R Status of R&R at Dam Height EL 95 Mts of MP PAFs Date Total Claimed as Resettled Balance Option of Source of no. of Balance information PAFs In MP In Guj. Total MP Gujarat Aug 29, 2001 12681 1809 2802 4611 8070 5489 2581 Agenda of 50th Meeting of R&R Sub-Group Nov 11, 2001 12681 2005 2896 4901 7708 5288 2420 420 RCNCA (CMs) meeting Feb 08, 2002 12681 2079 3653 5732 6949 5219 1730 Agenda of 52nd meeting of R&R Sub-Group Nov 14, 2002 12681* 2175 3628 5803 6878 5425 1453 Minutes of 54th Meeting of R&R Sub-Group May 13, 2003 5607** Minutes of 55th Meeting of R&R Sub-Group June 31, 2003 8406*** 5893 2016 7909 497 291 206 Half Yearly Status Report, NCA *This number may change after declaration of LAQ awards. PAFs whose lands are temporarily submerged due to 1 in 100 year flood have not been considered for R&R **tentative ***This number may change due to addition of genuine PAFs likely to be included after declaration by GRA and passing of land acquisition award."