The CPI(M) today demanded that the Centre step in to resolve the issues related to the Sardar Sarovar Dam in the interest of the project-affected people in Madhya Pradesh.
The Left party also appealed to activist Medha Patkar, who is on a fast demanding rehabilitation of the project- affected people first, to end her protest as it expressed concerns over her "deteriorating" health.
Patkar and some other project-affected people (PAP) have been protesting in the state for the past nine days against the alleged forced displacement of locals in view of closing of the gates of the dam in Gujarat.
The dam's submergence area falls also in Madhya Pradesh. Maharashtra is the third beneficiary state of the project.
In a statement, the CPI(M) said that lowering of gates will lead to submergence of 192 villages and eviction of 40,000 families in Madhya Pradesh.
The Left party alleged the gates were closed even before the locals were rehabilitated to some other place, "disregarding" the Supreme Court's February 8, 2017 order on the matter.
"The CPI(M) condemns the attitude of the Madhya Pradesh government and demands that the central government intervene immediately to settle the issue in the interest of the PAP.
"The CPI(M) also extends its support to the struggle of the people for their proper rehabilitation," the CPI(M) politburo said in a statement.
Urging Patkar to end her fast, the politburo also said that a further course of action to carry forward the struggle can be worked out jointly.
The Centre though had informed the Rajya Sabha on July 31 that out of the total 18,063 families affected by the project in Madhya Pradesh, 6,724 continue to live in submergence area.
Of these, 884 project affected families (PAFs) were in the process of shifting, Minister of State for Water Resources Sanjeev Kumar Balyan had told the upper House.
The minister had also said that all the PAFs had been given resettlement and rehabilitation (R&R) package as per the Narmada Water Dispute Tribunal (NWDT) award and the Supreme Court order.
There are no PAFs remaining in the submergence areas in Gujarat and Maharashtra, he had said.
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