Rehabilitation of all families affected by Sardar Sarovar Project completed: Govt

Union Minister of State Sanjeev Kumar Balyan said as many as 32,684 project-affected families have been resettled in-- Gujarat, Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh -- affected by the project.

Narmada Bachao Andolan leader Medha Patkar (foreground) and others fasting for the cause of Sardar Sarovar Project-affected people in Chikilda village of Dhar district in Madhya Pradesh | File photo by Express

NEW DELHI: The resettlement and rehabilitation of all families affected by the Sardar Sarovar Project has been completed, the Lok Sabha was informed today.

Union Minister of State for Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation Sanjeev Kumar Balyan said as many as 32,684 project-affected families (PAFs) have been resettled in the three states -- Gujarat, Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh -- affected by the project.

"The Resettlement and Rehabilitation (R&R) of all project -affected families (PAFs) has been completed as per the Narmada Water Dispute Tribunal Award, liberalised R&R policies of the state governments of Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra, the Supreme Court order dated February 8, 2017 and Grievances Redressal Authorities (GRA) Orders," he said.

According to the data shared by the minister, the total number of PAFs are -- Gujarat (4,763), Maharashtra (4,307) and Madhya Pradesh (23,614) with the number of villages affected being 19, 33 and 178 respectively.

4,307 PAFs in Maharashtra comprise "three dead with no legal heirs and 20 are untraceable. Adequate house plots and 99 hectare (ha) (against 35 ha required) of agriculture land is available to resettle them", the minister added.

The Centre had recently given the nod for closing the gates of the dam in Gujarat. The dam is likely to be filled to its capacity by August-end.