Sir,
In demonstrations barely reported in the media, peasants and students in the far flung tehsil Marwah of district Kishtwar are fighting together against a proposed ‘Budsar-Pakal’ dam across the upper reaches of chenab river, one of the most seismically active region.The movement has gathered impressive momentum against a proposed project that threatens environment, demography and socio-economic impact.
Marwah valley falls in the Southern district of Kishtwar and is inaccessible for nearly six to seven months. The terrain makes this area more vulnerable to landslides and hence no concrete road has been built to connect the valley and even to its own district headquarter.
The locals are resisting against dam building, from all quarters of the land there is rejection of the said dam.The people of the area don’t want development at the cost of relocation, destruction of their land.The reservoir that has been proposed if completed will flood all fertile agricultural lands, destroying the flora and fauna of entire Marwah belt and displace thousands of people of Marwah valley.The local people will lose their identity as well as the link to their culture.
The Govt is still not interested in addressing basic issues related to Budsar-Pakal Dam and displacement.The callous attitude of the govt can be attributed to the fact that most of the population of Marwah is assetless rural poor like landless labourers and small and marginal farmers.Most residents of the Marwah are from Below Poverty Line. Maximum villages are on the banks of Chenab river and will be directly affected by the project.The planned dam will submerge the fields on which we are surviving.
As we have seen, earlier displacements due to dams have been traumatic and dehumanising.The displaced families livelihood, their family, kinship systems, cultural identity and informal social networking were badly affected and disrupted.The condition of the women and children is even more traumatic. Lack of policy framework and social securities has made them insecure and psychologically very weak.The monetary compensation paid to the displaced was not enough to sustain their livelihoods.
Yours etc…..
Sheikh Aabid, Rar Marwah Ktwr
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