Narmada Bachao Andolan: A recap

• Narmada Bachao Andolan has been active for around two decades now. But that has not stopped planners from increasing the height of the Sardar Sarovar Dam.
• Of the 30 large dams planned on river Narmada, Sardar Sarovar is the largest. With a proposed height of 136.5 m, it's also high on discord between the planners and the Narmada Bachao Andolan.
• The government claims the multi-purpose project will irrigate more than 1.8 million hectares - most of it in drought prone areas like - Kutch and Saurashtra.
• But Sardar Sarovar spells doom for close to three lakh twenty thousand people, mostly tribals who'll get displaced. The state government had promised to rehabilitate these people, but it's failed to do so. And despite that, the height of the dam has been increased several times in recent years.
• In February 1999, the Supreme Court gave the go ahead for the dam's height to be raised to 88 metres from the initial 80.
• In October 2000 again, in a 2 to 1 majority judgement in the Supreme Court, the government was allowed to construct the dam upto 90 metres.
• Then in May 2002, the Narmada Control Authority approved increasing the height of the dam by another five metres.
• And a couple of years later, in March 2004, the authority allowed another raise - this time to 110metres.
• Now the most recent move in March 2006, the Narmada Control Authority gave clearance for the height of the dam to be increased from 110.64 metres to 121.92.
• It was after this last judgement that protestors gathered in the capital and activist Medha Patkar went on an indefinite hunger.