Sardar Sarovar Dam: Displaced villagers stage protest

Villagers who have been displaced due to closure of Sardar Sarovar Dam have demanded rehabilitation here, on Sunday.

The villagers have protested by covering themselves with shrouds over the government's "fake promises" when they were displaced.

Speaking to ANI, a resident at the protest said that they are protesting because they have not been provided with any services that they were promised with, which includes a home, proper roads, electricity and water.

Devram one of the head protestor said, "You yourself go and see that the construction of roads is still going on. This is should have been completed by May 8, but till now they are working."

Adding further he said that they don't have any additional needs, and are just asking the authorities to complete the work that was promised to the villagers.

"We are doing this protest because the government is not listening to us," another resident at the protest said.

Earlier in June the Sardar Sarovar dam on the Narmada River, was closed shut, fifty-six years after its foundation.

The Gujarat Government got permission to "shut the gates" of the dam, marking the "completion" of the project, due to which many villagers were displaced from their homes.

Of the total 23,614 families affected by the SSP, 9242 families were rehabilitated in Madhya Pradesh, while 5,551 families were migrated to Gujarat, accepting the rehabilitation packages.