Make team’s report public, says Medha

Special Correspondent

Ministers yet to submit findings to Manmohan

Who should be blamed and punished is the question the nation must answer: Medha Every democratic process and institution subverted and every human right submerged All that the NBA said was proved to Ministers: B.D. Sharma

NEW DELHI: Narmada Bachao Andolan leader Medha Patkar, who is on the twelfth day of her indefinite fast, wrote to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Sunday expressing the hope that the report to be submitted by the Central Ministers who visited the Narmada valley would be made public.

"We expect justice"

"We expect justice, humanity and respect for people’s constitutional rights. We also believe that there would be no hesitation to put the blame where it lies for legal violations and contempt of court," she said.

The three-member team of Central Ministers, led by Water Resources Minister Saifuddin Soz, visited the Narmada valley in Madhya Pradesh on Friday to assess the status of resettlement and rehabilitation of families displaced by the Narmada dam. It is yet to submit its report to Dr. Singh.

Ms. Patkar has been continuing her fast from the All-India Institute of Medical Sciences.

Former High Commissioner and Planning Commission member L.C. Jain visited Ms. Patkar in hospital. Actor Rahul Bose also enquired about her health. Ms. Patkar said she hoped that everyone was aware of the fact that "the cement being poured every minute at the Sardar Sarovar dam in Gujarat" was creating an irreversible situation whereby every democratic process and institution was being subverted and every human right was being submerged in a continued history of injustice.

"Who should be blamed and punished is the question the nation must answer," she said.

Complaints galore

At the dharna site, former bureaucrat B.D. Sharma and NBA worker Clifton, who were independently with the Ministerial team and returned on Sunday from the valley, said all that the NBA had said about lack of rehabilitation became evident to the Ministers even though their visit was short.

"Wherever they went there was nothing but complaints of being unheard, corruption and lack of rehabilitation.

People gave proof of how rehabilitation was showed only on paper and how cash was being offered with a 20 per cent cut for officials."

Desperation

Mr. Sharma said distraught people threw themselves before the Ministers’ cars to be heard. Mr. Soz was led by the hand by women to show uncultivable land projected as rehabilitation sites. "If even after this they continue with construction of the dam, it would be a betrayal," he said.

Uma Bharti meets Medha

PTI, UNI report:

At the AIIMS Ms. Patkar has been accepting only lemon water. Expelled BJP leader Uma Bharti visited her and enquired about her health.