Sardar Sarovar Dam: a case study of impacts

of dams on local livelihoods

Jenil M. Shah

Student, New Tulip International School

The construction of the Sardar Sarovar Dam was expected to boost

socio-economic development in India. This article examines the
ramifications of the project on the livelihoods of the local people.
Data was collected using a mixed-research approach and a case-
study design. The article carefully examines the major turnarounds in
the lives of the local people in terms of economic livelihood, social
and cultural relations, health care and education and provides a
resolution for the improvements in future dam projects. The study
finds that, while there have been significant improvements with
respect to resettlement and compensation issues as compared to the
earlier dam projects in India, there are still some shortfalls. The
overall quality of the lives of the rehabilitates has deteriorated:
traditional farming practices and cultures have been sacrificed and
people have been pushed to the vicious cycle of labour, new
economic frontiers have been created but rarely provide a substantial
benefit to those affected, overall education and healthcare have been
left worse off than before, and some villages still haven’t received
proper compensation and rehabilitations. The inequality between
development beneficiaries and those who must bear the majority of
the development costs is also addressed.
Keywords: Sardar Sarovar dam; Gujarat; India; Narmada;
hydropower and irrigation project; livelihood; social impacts on local
people, resettlement and rehabilitation.
Introduction
Dam projects have been undertaken to provide single or multiple
benefits such as generation of hydroelectricity, the creation of
waterways, flood control and provision of water for agricultural
activities. Apart from meeting water and energy needs, dams also
foster regional development, job creation and promotion of industrial
base with export capabilities (WCD, 2000). However, these benefits
need to weighed against the negative environmental, social and
economic impacts. Perhaps the most serious of these impacts are the
displacement and relocation of people who live within and around
the proposed dam sites. Globally dams account for physical
displacement of 40 to 80 million people (WCD, 2000). This number
will increase if we consider non registered rehabilitation and people
who were later forced to move due to downstream impacts.
Many new major and minor dams have been created in developing
countries like India. These dams projects are mainly envisaged for
surface and groundwater irrigation and electricity generation(Laurie
Uytterlinde Flood, 1997). However, these dams have an adverse
socio-economic impact, and rarely improve the living condition of
local communities. In most cases, the implementation of dam
projects has led to increased poverty, food insecurity, health
problems, poor education and loss of property amongst people living
in the catchment area. In the view of the benefits and negative
impacts of dams, scholars are divided over whether new dams should
be constructed or avoided. Several studies have been conducted on
the impacts of dams around the world. However, there is no literature
on the real impacts of dam projects on the local communities.
This study examines the impacts of Sardar Sarovar Dam in Gujarat,
India on the livelihood of local people in and around the project area.
The objectives of this academic writing are to understand the socio-
economic impacts of the project and to examine the effects of Sardar
Sarovar Punarvasvat Agency- resettlement and compensation- on
livelihoods of local people. The study aims at seeking a deep
understanding of effects of Sardar Sarovar dam project on the local
communities: economic activities, cultural relations, technological
and social development, health care and education and provide a
resolution for improvements in the current and the future dams
projects' impact on the local communities.
The Debate: Sardar Sarovar Dam
The Sardar Sarovar Project is an inter-State multi-purpose project on
the river Narmada in Gujarat. It is a joint venture between the states
of Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, and Rajasthan. The
northwest region of India, including Gujarat, Rajasthan, Madhya
Pradesh, and Maharastra, is semi-arid and depends hugely on the
Narmada River for water supply. The Sardar Sarovar dam project
was conceived as the first of the 30 dam projects designed to be
developed in the Narmada Basin, which was India’s last large
unexploited resource for irrigation and hydropower generation. The
main aim of the project was to provide irrigation and canal facilities
to the northwestern region of India. The project began in the 1940’s
but was delayed until the 1960's due to concerns over the height of
the dam and political wrangling over the sharing of costs and benefits
among the four states. The progress began in 1985 with World bank
approving a loan of $450 million. The Bank's support for the scheme
took the form of a ten-year Dam and Power Project and a companion
three-year Water Delivery and Drainage Project.
The entire project was made up of a roller-compacted concrete
gravity dam with a full supply level of 1210 m. It had a maximum
height of 163 m with a reservoir area of 88000 km2 at full supply
level. The canal system itself is the biggest in the world, in terms of
its capacity. The dam envisaged a 1.8 million hectares(ha) irrigation
development scheme directly benefiting 88000 families and
providing domestic, municipal and industrial water for 25 million
consumers. When fully operational, the dam generates 1450
megawatts (MW) of hydropower, avoiding 3.2 million tonnes of
carbon dioxide emission every year. At the local level, the project
was expected to provide benefits such as improvement in social
infrastructures like good roads, schools, and hospitals that would
boost the local economy. Construction costs are estimated at $5.2
billion in 1992 US dollars. The Dam Project will submerge
approximately 37,000 hectares of land for the reservoir, and
approximately 80,000 hectares for the extensive canal works. It will
displace at least 100,000 people who reside in approximately 245
villages. Approximately 140,000 additional farmers will be affected
by the canal and irrigation system, and thousands will be affected by
the disturbance of downstream fisheries (Morse and Berger 1992,
xii-xiii).
However, both national and international environmentalists and
human rights activists opposed the project. The Narmada Bachao
Movement was initiated in protest of the construction of the dam due
to the lack of proper resettlement and rehabilitation facilities for the
local people. They argued that the perceived positive outcomes were
beneficial for the stakeholders, industries and urban population and
were overstated. While the potential negative impacts (such as
displacement of communities, dispossession of land, loss of
traditional values and food security, and poverty in dam-affected
areas) were hugely underestimated. The resettlement and
rehabilitation issues weren’t addressed and estimated effectively
leading to the controversy of whether the creation of the world’s
second largest dam (in terms of volume and size) was a justifiable
decision.
Methodology
Area of Study
The study was carried out in four villages displaced by the
construction of the Sardar Sarovar Dam project. The villages include
Kevadia colony, Gora, Rajpipla, and Garudeshwar of Gujarat. The
Kevadia colony located 9km away at the foot of the dam has a total
population of 12,705 (India census, 2011). The population in the
study area is composed mainly of farmers, labourers, and tribal
adivasis. The Gora village has 1359 inhabitants (India Census 2011)
and is located 9.9 km from the dam. The population in the study area
is composed mainly of the scheduled Adivasi tribes. Garudeshwar
and Rajpipla have a population of 2452 (India Census 2011) and
34,845 (India Census 2011) respectively. The main communities in
are of study are the Vasavas, Tadvi, and Nayak. The tribal population
mainly comprise of the Bhilalas, Bhils, and Dungribhil. The main
ethnic groups predominantly practice farming as their main source of
economic sustenance. The selection of the communities was
purposively done to ensure that the findings of the study are
representative of the different economic and socio-cultural
characteristics of the study population.
Data collection
Primary data were collected using a mixed-research approach and a
case-study design. The purpose of the combined method was to
facilitate the collection of quantitative and qualitative data for the
study and to capitalize on their respective strengths. The fieldwork
was conducted in March of 2018. The quantitative data was collected
by administering questionnaires (see the appendix for details) to
household heads in the selected communities. Two main types of
sampling techniques were used.
Stratified sampling was used to categorize the households based on
their community of residence prior to resettlement. Simple random
sampling was then used to select respondents from each stratum for
questionnaire administration. A total of 100 respondent families were
interviewed so as to keep the data size and physical collection
manageable.
Qualitative data were collected using semi-structured and in-depth
interview guides. In addition, four separate focus group discussions
were held, in each of the villages, to explore some of the issues
discussed in the questionnaire. This also helped generate data from
different voices and perspectives. Each of the groups was composed
of between 4 and 6 people. The smaller sizes of focus groups
facilitated easy handling of groups and promoted in-depth
discussion. The data was imported into Excel to generate descriptive
data and to make all statistical computations. The qualitative data
were also transcribed and analyzed using thematic analysis based on
the objectives of the study.
Results and Discussions
1.a) Impacts on economic activities
Before the construction of the Sardar Sarovar dam, farming, fishing,
and labor were the main economic activities in the villages of
Narmada District. The construction of Sardar Sarovar dam has led to
many direct and indirect impacts on existing economic activities and
also created new economic opportunities, but the creation of new
economic frontiers wasn't enough to support all those who were
affected.
Farming was the main economic activity in Rajpipla and Kevadia
colony. Farmers operate on smallholding ranging from 1.9 ha to 7 ha
in the study sample. The major impacts have been on those who
didn’t receive enough or any compensation in form of land. These
include those who were displaced as a result of the canal system. For
example, tribals were not considered to be covered under the 1979
Narmada Water Disputes Tribunal ruling concerning "oustees" and
thus were not deemed to be entitled to resettlement (Morse and
Berger 1992, xv-xvi). Most of the people displaced in the
development project were tribal “encroachers”, who hold their hand
by customary usage, but had no legal title the land. Moreover, it must
be understood that loss of land is an economic disaster for these
people since land is their source of sustenance and ancestral
knowledge of the local environment is their major skill. Majority of
the tribal oustees practiced farming for economic survival and have
undergone a major tradeoff in terms of change in ancestral practices
and economic security as most of the families didn't have enough
financial well being to purchase land and practice farming in
resettlement areas. Most of the families have shifted occupation from
farmers to wage earners. The proportion of oustees thus vulnerable to
a reduced standard of living is at least 60 percent (Morse and Berger,
1992). Even those who received land compensation under the
resettlement and rehabilitation scheme weren't satisfied. In most
cases, the farmers complained that compensated farmlands weren't as
fertile as the lands in the banks of Narmada river and hence couldn't
support their traditional crops. Also, the fixed size of farmland (2 ha)
allocated to each household has put stress on the farmers who wanted
to make larger farms and some found the area to small to produce
meaningful output. A major proportion of the sample group found a
decrease in their agricultural output due to lack of knowledge and
resources in the new settings.
Fishing was the main income generating activity for the people of
Garudeshwar and Gora colony prior to the commencement of the
dam. Gora is the nearest resettlement camp to the dam. As can be
seen in Figure 2, the two fishing communities were situated very
close to the Narmada River. Garudeshwar was about 250 meters
from the river, and Gora about 800 meters. According to the chief
fisherman in both villages, the close proximity to the river provided
the fishermen easy access to carry out fishing activities. Prior to the
dam, each fisherman would earn enough to cater to economic, social
and health care needs of the household members. Some of the catch
was also exchanged directly for foodstuffs from the neighboring
farming communities. This created some degree of social
interdependence between the fishermen and the farmers.
The fishermen stated that fishing activities have declined
dramatically since the commencement of the dam project. The
decline in fishing was attributed to limited accessibility to fishing
sites and to changes in downstream river flow. This is because the
locations where the fishing communities were resettled are several
kilometers from the section of the river where they used to fish.
During the survey, one of the older fishermen said “Earlier the river
was near and so we could go fishing, but now the river is really far
away and only the young man can walk so much. We old folks can
no longer continue fishing. The dam people release water without
any prior notice and so we can’t even keep our nets”. The dam has
reduced the biodiversity of the area and resulted in a reduction of fish
species in the catchment area. Also, the dam authorities have a
practice of opening the spillways of the reservoir to allow excess
water to flow, without any prior notice to the fishermen. This practice
has often resulted in the river carrying away their fishing nets and
canoes. The decline in fish catch has resulted in changes in
household dietary practices; households no longer eat traditional
meals prepared from fish. Also, the decline in fishing has led to other
cultural effects apart from the nutritional shifts. In both villages, it
was reported that prior to the commencement of the project, they
used to celebrate a community festival which involved communal
fishing but due to lack of accessibility, the festival is no longer
celebrated. In Gora, new people have put a burden on the finite
resources. There was a cascade of economic effects due to the
decline in fishing, the major effect being unemployment among
fisherman. This has, in turn, affected the economic activities of the
women fishmongers, who used to get their stock from the fishermen
to supply markets within and outside the local area. Most of the
people have shifted from being fishermen to being the wage earner,
selling small handmade artifacts and working as local guides for the
Narmada river.
1.b) Newly created economic frontiers
Employment opportunities outside the agricultural sector in the study
communities were reported to be rare. Before the construction of the
dam, the few existing ones were in the teaching, health and wildlife
sectors. The local people generally have lower levels of education, so
they lacked the skills and competencies to compete for the jobs
created by the dam construction. The prestigious formal jobs were
the preserve of expatriates and the educated folk who immigrated to
the construction site from the urban areas. Even though the Sardar
Sarovar Dam project was envisaged to create job opportunities, those
who have benefited most are these immigrants. Only 8 out of the 100
respondents were employed at the construction site. They were
mainly taken on as unskilled laborers such as carpenters, masons,
drivers, welders, metal benders and security officers, attracting lower
salaries and wages. Many who shifted from farming and fishing took
up similar jobs after resettlement hence reducing their economic
status. Most of those employed complain about poor safety
conditions in the workplace and the insecurity of their posts. One of
them said during an interview “A minor mistake you make, risks
your entire position”. Most of them were on temporary contract and
were removed after completion of construction of the dam.
An important new economic activity that has emerged is trade and
tourism. The woman now sells handmade artifacts, flowers, and
fruits. The area is bustling with new items and tourists. The
accessibility to the area has significantly improved since the
commencement of the dam. Moreover, the dam created important
new economic frontiers but was mainly aimed for educated youth
and was unable to meet the basic requirements of those shifted.
Hence most of the local people affected due to the construction of
the Sardar Sarovar Dam have shifted occupations from farming and
fishing to laborer, wage earners, tourists and other low ends less
paying jobs in the resettlement areas. The creation of new jobs have
been done but the quantity is minimal and its benefits to local people
have been reported to being really few.
2) Healthcare
Most of the people in our survey underwent some kind physiological
or psychological disturbance in their health. As discussed earlier, the
loss of one's culture, place, and economic security would certainly
affect psychological well-being. In many cases, even a temporary
drop in the economic stability could lead to loss of access to an
adequate and nutritious diet, which in turn leads to a decline in health
conditions. The oustees, especially children, reported unusually high
rates of mortality for the first years of relocation. Anxiety, stress, and
depression which would simply result from the anticipation of
having to move, losing occupation and economic stability and the
uncertainty of the future could have negative physical and
psychological impacts. Over 80% of the sample reported some kind
of psychological impacts, including stress, anger, anxiety, and
depression, due to relocation.
A crucial impact of the development of canals, reservoirs and the
dam on the local people is the huge increase in the spread of water-
borne diseases. The reservoirs created an ideal breeding ground for
malarial mosquitoes. The local people reported a total collapse of
vector control measures in their villages. The incidence of malaria
rose sharply in all the sample villages; local clinics have recorded
deaths from malaria. The failure to anticipate and prevent malaria
hazards is a part of the failure to implement measures to mitigate the
impacts of the project.
In addition, many of the resettled areas are lacking in basic
infrastructures, such as working water pumps and proper,
comfortable housing, toilets and other basic amenities. (ibid.,
81-194). In most of the resettlement camps, new healthcare facilities
have not been provided and people have to cover huge distances in
order to get the basic Medicare necessary for the sustenance of one’s
life. Residents complained that the health center was short of health
personnel and medicine.
3.) Education
In terms of education, the rehabilitation and resettlement programme
proposed the construction of schools and playgrounds in the new
dwellings. However, this feat has only been achieved on paper. Out
of the four resettlements, only two villages had received the
construction school blocks. Even these lack proper infrastructure and
resources, and the quality of education is poor due to the absence of
well-qualified teachers. Residents complained about the
overcrowding of classrooms. Although the literacy rates (literates
include those above the age of 7, who can write their name in any
language, India Census 2011) of all the sample villages is high,
nearly 60% on paper, the reality is quite different. Both the villages
had schools only for education to primary level. To pursue higher
education people have to migrate out to different locations. Many
people in the survey knew the quality of education was poor but
couldn’t shift due to lack of adequate financial resources. Hence,
they were forced to pursue a poor education as their economic
stability was disturbed. Others fought this situation by
homeschooling their children up to the primary level. 20% of the
sample families had homeschooled their children. The drop out rates
has increased phenomenally, especially in case of the tribal oustees.
The drop out rates increased for two different reasons. Firstly, the
level of education provided wasn't enough to compete for well-
paying jobs. Secondly, the acquired knowledge wasn't useful for
their hierarchy occupations of fishing and farming. Hence, most
families either completely or partly avoided education. Even though
the literacy rates have increased on paper, the quality of education
has decreased phenomenally after the commencement of the dam.
The authorities failed to provide the Tribunal award of resettlement
in terms of schools for higher education and improving the quality of
education. Lack of education in earlier generations has been one of
the greatest reasons for the lack of criticism and opposition to the
development of dams. People were unable to understand the drastic
effects of the dam when on paper, and they were further crippled by
traditional society. The absence of an educated leader can be
considered one of the reasons for the lack of major opposition to the
authorities from a local perspective.
4.) Other Basic Amenities
The basic amenities include electricity supply, water supply,
infrastructure, and technological development. The Sardar Sarovar
Dam produces 1450 MW of hydroelectricity. Yet, the local people in
the Garudeshwar and Gora receive electricity only for an average of
12 hours a day. Most of the electricity generated is provided to the
manufacturing industries and urban areas. This explains why many
factories were set up in areas near construction of the dam. Many
electric and water-intensive industries like sugar industry were set up
near the dam. The other two villages had a better electricity supply
but still, none of the sample sites had electricity for the entire day.
Even though the supply was less, there has been a marginal increase
when compared to the supply prior to the commencement of the
dam. But these benefits are not linear, some villages have still not
received basic electricity supply. Although residents in the resettled
community were happy they had gotten electricity, they also
complained about the increasing cost of electricity bills – they were
not used to paying electricity bills – and felt that this had increased
their economic burdens.
Even after the layout of the canal and the reservoirs, the local
resettlement sites received on an average only 2-5 hours of water
supply. It has been found that the canals for irrigation and water
supply have been laid down for farther regions. The canals for the
supply in and near the dam were still in the early stages of
development. Many people didn't receive the water line, while others
complained about the quantity supplied. The farmers in the
proximity of the dam couldn't balance the water supply between the
household needs and the farmland. Women now need to walk long
distances to fetch water from the river when compared to the earlier
dwellings. While some might argue that even this supply is an
increment over the past and hence the dam brought prosperity to the
area. However, when you see the development in water supply due to
the dam in urban and industrial regions, the development of local
livelihoods is marginal in terms of the tradeoffs they went through.
Moreover, the completion of the canal project is expected to provide
24 hours of water supply, but for now, the local people went through
huge negative tradeoff in terms of loss of water resources and
development.
The infrastructure, which includes roads and networks, has improved
significantly since the commencement of the dam. Concrete roads
have been constructed on the highways and for internal transport
among the villages. This has increased the connectivity of rural areas
to urban areas. Network lines have been laid down to provide basic
communication facilities for the local people. The connectivity of
roads and communication facilities have improved the access of the
inhabitants and can be considered a major benefit due to the Sardar
Sarovar Dam.
5.) Compensations and Resettlements
As already stated, more than 100,000 people were affected due to the
construction of the Sardar Sarovar Dam. However, compensation and
resettlement weren't provided to all those affected. Despite this, the
study shows that there has been a remarkable improvement in the
resettlement and rehabilitation scheme compared to what pertained
during other dam projects in India with respect to the size of the
resettling population.
The Narmada Tribunal awarded a land compensation of 2 ha to all
those directly affected by the construction of the dam. It also stated
that major sons should also be provided with 2 ha of land. However,
the states of Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh resulted in
noncompliance with the provision of compensation to major sons.
The second aspect of the disagreement is related to encroachers. As
noted earlier, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra say that encroachers
must be treated as landless oustees with no entitlement to adequate
land for cultivation on resettlement. The dispute here is whether
tribal people, holding their land by customary usage, are entitled to
be treated as landed oustees. As a result, the Gujarat government
provided land compensation to encroachers. However, no physical
steps have been taken for compensation of encroachers in
Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh. Gujarat has not provided land on
resettlement for those oustees displaced in 1960-61 when the lands
of six villages of Kevadia district were expropriated to establish the
construction site for the dam. Land compensation was not provided
to people displaced due to the construction of the canal system.
Many people have indirectly been affected due to the construction of
the dam who was not even considered for compensation. Cash
compensations have been provided in some cases but those weren't
enough and couldn't replace the judicious land compensation. Yet
given the scale of resettlement, the impossible task (Morse and
Berger, 1992) of resettlement and rehabilitation has been conducted
quite effectively with only a few major shortcomings. These have
been achieved due to great struggles like the Narmada Bachao
Andolan.
The impoundment of the Sardar Sarovar Dam flooded large tracts of
farmland. Eighty- eight of the hundred respondent families lost their
farmlands in the filling of the dam reservoir. A majority of the
resettlers interviewed indicated that they were not given a choice of
where they would like to be relocated. For example, respondents
from the two fishing communities reported that they requested to be
relocated very close to the river but that was neither acknowledged
nor approved. In terms of housing, all villagers but those of Kevadia
have been resettled. In general, satisfaction with the new homes was
high among the resettled community members. Only 24% of the
resettlers were not satisfied with their new house. They complained
that the houses were built with low-quality materials adding that the
roofing was poor and leaked when it rained and the drainage wasn't
proper. They also complained about the low fertility of the
compensated farmland. Each household was given the same area, 2
ha, regardless of the area held before. This led to a general decline in
the average size of farmland, which is a major concern to the
resettlers who are farmers. They argued this has limited their ability
to start bigger farms. They also felt that the reduced size of farmland
prevented them from cultivating economic tree crops, which used to
be alternative sources of income. Nevertheless, a majority,
constituting 76% of the respondents, were satisfied with the new
housing because they owned the title to the new house.
Conclusion and Recommendations
This article has discussed the impacts of the Sardar Sarovar project
on the livelihoods of people of the resettled communities in terms of
economic livelihoods, healthcare and education, infrastructural and
technological progress and improvement in the basic amenities for
existence. The project was implemented to improve electric power
generation and irrigation to improve food security and economic well
being of the farmer. The project has been successful in providing
these benefits to the industries and urban population but has failed to
provide equivalent benefits against the trade-offs by the local people.
It was also expected to provide several benefits to facilitate socio-
economic development at the local and national levels. The study
found that the commencement of the project has led to improvements
in local infrastructure (road network, drinking water, communication,
and electricity supply) and creation of new job opportunities for at
least a few of the local people but had put a major economic burden
to a major proportion of the resettlers. Also, compensation and
resettlement schemes are significantly improved as compared with
the other large dam projects in India. In spite of these improvements,
some of the major shortfalls encountered in the earlier dam projects
have remained. The overall quality of the lives of the rehabilitates
has deteriorated: traditional farming practices and cultures have been
sacrificed and people have been pushed to the vicious cycle of
labour, new economic frontiers have been created but rarely provide
a substantial benefit to the deceased, overall education and healthcare
have been left worse off than before, and some villages still haven’t
received proper compensation and rehabilitations Much still remains
to be done to improve the livelihoods of the affected communities.
The effects of both the dam project and its accompanying
resettlement and rehabilitation project are setting the stage for further
displacement by increasing people's economic vulnerability. Those
who must bear the majority of the development costs in this project
were neither properly consulted, nor compensated in ways acceptable
to them. Moreover, the Sardar Sarovar Dam is development on the
backs of the poor and those who sacrificed their resources for the
well being of others. Based on these findings, therefore, the
following recommendations are made.
To improve agriculture in the new settlements, in addition to
financial support for farming, dam project implementers should
provide farmers with affordable farm inputs. Also, skill training and
services of agriculture extension officers would help the farmers
adapt and improve their farming activities in the new locations. This
would help sustain the food security of the resettled households.
Instead of cash compensation (according the price of land at the time
of procurement) and fixed land compensation ( 2 hectare land to each
displaced household), equal land compensation should be provided.
Future dam projects must also be accompanied by support schemes
and small-scale economic activities such as industries and handicraft
businesses. These would provide alternative jobs for both the
resettled and host populations. Also, existing economic activities
such as fishing can be diversified by, for instance, introducing new
methods of fishing or providing resettlement according to the need of
the people.
Cash compensation should be provided to people whose traditional
occupation is not farming. These include fishermen, traders, and
laborers. This would enable the local people to retain their traditional
occupations and minimize the tendency of emigration, especially
among the active population. However, a proper evaluation must be
done and according to land compensation must be provided.
Compensation schemes must be reevaluated with the state
governments and land compensation must be provided to the major
sons, tribal oustees as well as people indirectly affected by the dam
(6 villages of Kevadia district). Similarly, the rights of encroachers
were not acknowledged. The only way of implementing resettlement
policy, at least in the case of the Sardar Sarovar Projects, in a way
that restores oustees’ previous standard of living is by the provision
of adequate land. This is of special relevance to the oustees of
Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh.
The construction of school blocks and primary healthcare centers is a
must in the new resettlement camps. The quality of education must
be carefully examined and appropriate measures need to be taken to
improve it. Finally, future relocation schemes must try as much as
possible to avoid disruption of the traditional economic activities and
cultural practices of the local communities. This could be achieved
by consulting and actively involving the local leaders during the
planning and implementation phases.
Notes
1. As per the basin planning recommended by the Narmada Water
Disputes Tribunal, 30 major dams, 135 medium dams and 3000 minor
dams are to be constructed on river Narmada and its tributaries. The Sardar
Sarovar Dam is the terminal dam on the river Narmada, and the only major
dam to be constructed in Gujarat.
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Appendix
Appendix 1. Types of information collected during the field survey.

Background information of Gender, age, occupation, household

respondents size, level of educational attained
Main occupation before and after
Socio-economic impacts of Sardar resettlement, effects of project on
Sarovar Dam Project occupation, employment, ancestral
relations
Land property and size,
compensation for land, size of new
Loss of property and compensation land, loss of other forms of
properties and compensation,
satisfaction with compensation
Socio-economic facilities, water,
Description of old settlement* toilet, school infrastructure and
health centre

Socio-economic facilities, water,

Description of new settlement*
Education in old settlements*
Education in new settlements*
Description of housing units before Type, number of rooms, toilet
and after resettlement*
Satisfaction with the new
settlement*
Relationship with the host or
resettled community
toilet, school infrastructure and
health centre
No. of schools, quality of education,
student to teacher ratio, and level of
education etc.
No. of schools, quality of education,
student to teacher ratio, and level of
education etc.
facility, electricity
Comparison of settlements before
and after resettlement, rating of
satisfaction
Economic, social and cultural
activities performed together,
experience of discrimination
 Grass-roots representation in
decision making, representatives,
Knowledge and participation in
roles of representatives, satisfaction
project management
with involvement in project
management
* Questions specifically designed for resettled households respondents.