August 1, 2017
Press Statement
The Polit Bureau of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) has issued the following statement:
Sardar Sarovar Dam: First Complete Rehabilitation
Drawing the wrong interpretation from the Supreme Court decision, the gates of Sardar Sarovar Dam have been closed. The Supreme Court decision had clearly stated that only after proper rehabilitation of the dam-affected was done and after the affected had been given compensation, could they be removed after July 31.
Arrangements for more than 40,000 families of the affected have not been completed. Peasants have not got any compensation. No provision at all has been made for compensation to agricultural workers, shopkeepers, fishermen and potters.
It is clear that due to political pressure and the compulsions of the Gujarat assembly elections, 40,000 families are being sacrificed.
The CPI(M) expresses solidarity with the struggle of the dam-affected people led by Medha Patkar. The CPI(M) demands that until the conditions of rehabilitation and compensation are not met with, no one must be displaced and the gates of the Sardar Sarovar Dam must be kept open.