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Gujarat government shuts door on team from World Commission on Dams

The controversy over the World Bank- appointed World Commission on Dams visiting Sardar Sarovar dam in Gujarat has taken a new turn with Chief Minister Keshubhai Patel categorically denying reports that the state government had invited it to visit the mega-dam on the Narmada river and WCD chairman Dr Kader Asmal cancelling the visit ''unless the state government extends an invitation''.

The chief minister met Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee in New Delhi on Wednesday to apprise him of the situation and to lodge the state's protest over the visit, an official spokesman said. Meanwhile, Narmada Bachao Andolan leader Medha Patkar, a member of the commission, has left for Bhopal, her office at Vadodara informed.

The state government's spokesperson denied reports in a section of the press quoting Patkar as saying that the chief minister had invited the commission. In fact, ''when the news of the formation of such an organisation reached the state government, the chief minister immediately alerted all concerned in the Government of India about the sinister motives of the commission''.

The spokesman said the commission ''unfortunately'' included two representatives from India. The state government had, from the very beginning, questioned the legitimacy of this organisation, and the current development had only confirmed the belief of the people that this organisation was formed with ulterior motives. The mood of the people of Gujarat was to resist any attempt which would deprive the state of its potential for development, it added.

About Patkar's claim that the commission was invited by the state government in May 1998, the spokesman said this was an ''absurd statement made by a person who has played a negative role under the influence of forces working against the developing countries''.

Meanwhile, in a three-page letter, dated September 4, WCD chairman Prof Kader Asmal, who is also minister of water affairs and forestry, Republic of South Africa, informed the chief minister that he (Professor Asmal) had asked his secretariat to cancel the proposed field visit to the Sardar Sarovar Project area unless ''your government extends an official invitation''.

On the other hand, Narmada Development Minister Jainarayan Vyas said in Gandhinagar that the state government was writing to the commission that since the matter was pending in the court, there was no need for it to visit the state.

Professor Aslam said he was ''deeply troubled'' by the issues raised by the Gujarat government and wanted to take this matter up with the chief minister personally. ''It is most regrettable that we have not been in a position to address the valid concern the government of Gujarat had toward the proposed visit of the commission to India''.

He said he had ''full sympathy'' for the questions raised by the Gujarat chief secretary in his letter to the commission. ''I am acutely aware of the implications of any international body stepping into a sensitive debate. You may also be interested to note that our own project (in South Africa) had also just been subjected to a review by the inspection panel of the World Bank on grounds that I find difficult to justify''.

The chairman said he believed that ''the basis on which the current international debate -- and at times interference -- on dams and large-scale water projects was conducted, had led to a situation where developing countries were subjected to campaigns and conditions that compromised the sovereign rights of a country to determine its own development''.

It was with this in mind, Professor Asmal said, the commission included in its mandate the explicit statement that it would not -- under any circumstances -- seek to adjudicate on specific projects. Its primary purpose is to facilitate a review of lessons learnt with existing dams in general and develop a more rational consensus for addressing the controversies that arise each time a dam is proposed.

The commission's composition, he said, itself reflects a ''very carefully balanced representation'' of the major stakeholders' views in the debate. It had to include outspoken proponents and opponents in order to ensure that the commission would have the support and confidence of all stakeholders. It is a coincidence that in case of India, both members are not known for their strong support for the dams. ''There should be no question as to the commission being presented with only one side of the story.''

UNI

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