Catholic Church officials are backing a hunger strike in support of demands for com-pensation and rehabilitation for 40,000 families affected by a major dam project in central India’s Madhya Pradesh State. Protesters say increased water levels in the Sardar Sarovar Dam will submerge 912 villages while officials maintain that affected people have already been compensated and benefited from ‘rehabilitation’ measures.
Police on Aug. 7 ‘cane charg-ed’ supporters of 12 people on hunger strike since July 27 at Chikhalda, a village in Dhar district. Activist Medha Patkar was hospitalized as a result of the encounter.
Police also forcefully took six others to hospital as their health deteriorated, but more joined the hunger strike to replace them.
Archbishop Leo Cornelio of Bhopal, who is based in the Madhya Pradesh State capital, said the current situation is a matter of great concern as nobody should be deprived of his or her “right to life.” He called on the government to conduct a fresh survey to determine how many more people should be offered rehabilitation packages.
