Narmada Bachao Andolan leader Medha Patkar who was arrested last week by Madhya Pradesh police continues to remain in jail. The Additional Sessions Judge of Dhar refused her bail on the grounds that investigations against her is at preliminary stage. Patkar has challenged the refusal with the Indore bench of MP High Court.
Earlier she was granted bail in two other cases heaped on her. Police had registered three cases against her when she was trying to enter the Sardar Sarovar Submergence area after being discharged from hospital on August 9.
Three bail applications were moved on Wednesday by advocate of Medha Patkar, Rajprakash Pahadia out of which two were agreed by judge Praveena Vyas. However, in the third case under IPC 353, 365, 342, 147 and 506b, bail was denied.
Rajprakash Pahadiya told journalists that Medha has been charged of kidnapping. According to police report, NBA activists have allegedly restrained revenue department staff, including a Nayab Tehsildar at Chikilda village during the fast.
Medha Patkar was forcibly shifted to the hospital by police on August 7 during her 12-day-long fast at village Chiklahlda. After her discharge from hospital she was again arrested and sent to Dhar district jail where she broke her fast on the 15th day.
Indore range Additional Director General of Police Ajay Sharma said, “She was arrested as she insisted on going back to meet the oustees. We have told her that it is not possible to allow her to go to Dhar as section 144 CrPc has been imposed in the area.”
On Wednesday, Congress leader and former chief minister of Madhya Pradesh Digvijay Singh visited Medha Patkar in jail to express solidarity to her cause.
Medha Patkar and a dozen activists from displaced villages sat on an indefinite fast at village Chikahlda on the banks of Narmada, some 160 kilometres upstream from the site of Sardar Sarovar Dam.
Areas of western Madhya Pradesh, bordering Gujarat will be submerged in the backwaters of Sardar Sarovar. Around 300 villages of three states— Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Maharstahtra will be displaced. It will also drown 13,542 square hectares of forest land and 11,279 square hectare of agriculture land. Around 40,000 families living in Narmada Valley comprising of poor, farmers, landless, women, fishermen, artisans, potters, adivasis are affected by the project.
The Narmada Control Authorityhas given its approval to raise the height of the Sardar Sarovar Dam to 138.68m from the present 121.92m. The Supreme Court had fixed July 31 as the deadline deadline for raising of height of Sardar Sarovar dam in Gujarat. However, more than 3,000 families are yet to be rehabilitated even as they are being forced to leave their houses by the state government authorities.
Medha Patkar, who came to Narmada valley as a student in 1985 became the faceof the movement. She quit her PhD course in 1989 when NBA was formed by amalgamating various organisation which were working to save people from the impact of dams being built on Narmada.
The Narmada Bachao Andolan saw several NGOs, professionals and activists joining it over the years. Baba Amte, too, became its founding father by setting up home in a small village on the banks of Narmada in Badwani. The movement saw several high and lows in last 31 years. Medha Patkar and several other associates have sat on many hunger strikes; the longest being 22 days in December 1990.
Apart from Patkar, celebrities like Arundhati Roy and Aamir Khan and scores of IITians and students from top institutions also joined it full time.
