Why are adivasis fighting the Narmada dam and other development projects in India today? Are adivasis 'ecologically noble savages' living in harmony with nature? What is the tribal relationship with nature today? How do people, whose struggles are the subject of theories of liberation and social change, perceive their own situation? Do their present circumstances allow adivasis to formulate a critique of 'development'?

This volume investigates the problem of displacement and resettlement in the Narmada valley in all its aspects. Based on wide-ranging empirical evidence, the authors present a telling picture of the resettlement situation and its political antecedents. They also offer contrasting viewpoints on the scope for positive change in this crucial field. Besides being important in its own right, this investigation also has much relevance as a case study of the general problems involved in development-induced displacement.

This book deals with the controversies on developmental aspects of large dams, with a particular focus on the Narmada Valley projects in India. Based on extensive ethnographic fieldwork and research, the author draws on Marxist theory to craft a detailed analysis of how local demands for resettlement and rehabilitation were transformed into a radical anti-dam campaign linked to national and transnational movement networks. The book explains the Narmada conflict and addresses how the building of the anti-dam campaign was animated by processes of collective learning, how activists extended the spatial scope of their struggle by building networks of solidarity with transnational advocacy groups, and how it is embedded in and shaped by a wider field of force of capitalist development at national and transnational scales. The analysis emphasizes how the Narmada dam project is related to national and global processes of capitalist development, and relates the Narmada Valley movement to contemporary popular struggles against dispossession in India and beyond. Conclusions drawn from the resistance to the Narmada dams can be applied to social movements in other parts of the Global South, where people are struggling against dispossession in a context of neoliberal restructuring. As such, this book will have relevance for people with an interest in South Asian studies, Indian politics and Development Studies.

Article on Sardar Sarovar (Narmada) Project.

Two decades of commentary by the New York Times–bestselling author: “An electrifying political essayist . . . uplifting . . . galvanizing.” —Booklist From the Booker Prize-winning author of such works as The God of Small Things and The Ministry of Utmost Happiness, My Seditious Heart collects nonfiction spanning over twenty years and chronicles a battle for justice, rights, and freedoms in an increasingly hostile world. Taken together, these essays are told in a voice of unique spirit, marked by compassion, clarity, and courage. Radical and superbly readable, they speak always in defense of the collective, of the individual, and of the land, in the face of the destructive logic of financial, social, religious, military, and governmental elites. “Her lucid and probing essays offer sharp insights on a range of matters, from crony capitalism and environmental depredation to the perils of nationalism and, in her most recent work, the insidiousness of the Hindu caste system. In an age of intellectual logrolling and mass-manufactured infotainment, she continues to offer bracing ways of seeing, thinking and feeling.” —Pankaj Mishra, Time Magazine Praise for Arundhati Roy: “Arundhati Roy combines her brilliant style as a novelist with her powerful commitment to social justice in producing these eloquent, penetrating essays.” —Howard Zinn “One of the most confident and original thinkers of our time.” —Naomi Klein “The scale of what Roy surveys is staggering. Her pointed indictment is devastating.” —The New York Times Book Review

Inspired by a conference held at Columbia U. in March 1992 (though the roster of contributors extends beyond those who participated in the conference), this volume emerges from an attempt to understand development and the resistance to it in the contemporary world. Its subject is the development efforts in the Narmada River valley in central and western India, particularly the Sardar Sarovar Project (SSP). The 17 chapters are organized into seven parts: introduction; overviews of the SSP; histories of resistance to the SSP; resettlement and rehabilitation; technical and environmental concerns and alternatives; the independent review; and politics and development. Paper edition (unseen), $24.95. Annotation copyright by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

Are Dams Political Symbols? With Its 18 October 2000 Judgment, The Supreme Court Allowed Construction To Resume On The Sardar Sarovar Dam. But Controversy Still Rages Around The Dam, And Any Chance Of Debate Between The Widely Differing Opinions On It Is Drowned In Angry Rhetoric. Where Does That Leave The Common Man In The Affected States, Or Even Elsewhere In The Country? Seeking Answers, Activist And Journalist Dilip D Souza Searches Beyond Polemics For An Understanding Of The Narmada Project. Analysing Documents Put Out By The Dam Authorities Themselves, The Author Builds His Simple Thesis--That Regardless Of Conflicting Feelings On The Dam, The Way It Has Been Conceived And Is Being Built Should Be A Matter Of Grave, General Concern. He Finds A Pervasive Haziness In The Way Key Issues Recurring In This Material Are Addressed The Statements Of Aims (The Lifeline Of Kutch And Saurashtra ), The Numbers Of People Displaced, The Benefits Claimed For The Dam. Besides, There Are Innumerable Contradictions In The Figures Presented. Further, D Souza S First-Hand Experiences Among Affected People Only Underline This Gap Between Paper And Fact, And The Inescapable Conclusion He Reaches Is That Dams Are Being Built Less For Solving The Problems Of Water, Floods And Power, And More For The Sake Of Politics. Such Findings In Themselves, Besides The Alternative Strategies Described, Constitute The Strongest Case Against Dams Like The Sardar Sarovar. Passionate And Incisive, This Book Becomes A Searing Indictment Of The Type Of Development We Have Pursued Since Independence.

With a length of about 1200 km, the Son-Narmada-Tapti Lineament (NSL) is one of the most prominent geomorphic features in the Indian subcontinent. Anomalous conductive bodies are delineated at mid-lower crustal depths below major earthquake epicentral zones. The region has been interpreted as the collision zone of the Indian Plate with the Eurasian Plate. The NSL zone is therefore also known to be the second most important tectonic feature in the Indian geology, after the Himalayas. The present thesis describes significant new insight into the seismotectonics of this Central India tectonic zone, based on thorough magnetotelluric studies. The main objectives of the present study are: (i) to delineate subtrappean sediments across the NSL region along four different traverses, (ii) to understand the characterization of geo-electrical structure of the crust and examine the nature of geo-electrical signatures of the known faults, (iii) to integrate the results with other geophysical data such as seismicity, gravity and heat flow, in order to understand the tectonic scenario of the region. Deep electromagnetic (magnetotelluric) analyses were integrated in this study with gravity, seismic and heat flow studies and distinct, delineated deep crustal features. The resulting high conductivity is justified with the presence of fluids at mid-lower crustal depths. The migration of these fluids from mantle to mid-lower crustal depths through pre-existing brittle fracture/fault zones were obviously caused by the plume related to the Deccan volcanism. Migration of the fluids generated a higher fluid pressure along the faults and resulted in earthquakes. Based on the geo-electric sections derived along the four traverses of the Narmada-Son Lineament Zone, the present study gives important clues on the subduction/collision history in this important tectonic zone.

The Book Is The First Attempt At Studying A Small Stretch Of The Narmada Valley From A Multidisciplinary Point Of View Incorporating The Results Of Archaeology, Geology, Palaeontology And Taphonomy. The Modern Analogies Attempt To Build Up A Palaeoecological Model For Narmada And Its Surrounding Areas Including The Rock Shelter Sites.