The Hindu Business Line : Modi to fast on Narmada issue

It was first Ms Medha Padkar who hogged the limelight by sitting in a hunger strike against the Narmada Control Authority decision to allow raising the height of the Narmada dam from 110.64 metres to 121.92 metres.

On Easter Sunday, Mr Narendra Modi will take on the mantle of the crusader, by starting a 51-hour dharna with the Narmada Review Committee's Saturday meeting on the issue ending in a stalemate.

According to Gujarat Government sources, Mr Modi will begin the hunger strike in the afternoon and the stir will continue till Tuesday. While he sits in dharna, the Congress party in the State, expressing solidarity with the pro-Narmada sentiment, has called for a Gujarat bandh on Sunday.

Talking to Business Line, Mr Jay Narayan Vyas, former Narmada Minister of Gujarat Government, said he was surprised that the Narmada Review Committee meeting had ended in a stalemate, leading to a possible intervention by the Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh.

"It is unfortunate that Mr Saifuddin Soz has taken a stand against the Narmada dam but it is beyond comprehension how Mr Vilasrao Deshmukh, Chief Minister of a State that is plagued by severe power shortage, can take such a decision. I say this because Maharashtra has 27 per cent stake in the 1,450-MW hydel power project that will go on stream once the dam reaches its optimal height", said Mr Vyas .

Work in full steam

The work at the dam site at Kevadia colony has been going full steam ahead and the height of the dam now stands at around 113 metres. At the current pace, the dam construction is expected to be over by June-end.

Now, with all Members of Parliament from Gujarat, along with a clutch of NGOs meeting the Prime Minister on Sunday, the counter-action has well and truly begun in the battle for Narmada waters.

At stake, along with the pride of some five crore Gujaratis, cutting across political affiliations, is a matter of over Rs 30,000 crore, the unofficially acknowledged figure on what has been spent till date on the Narmada dam.