NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court has appointed a fact-finding committee to investigate the rehabilitation and resettlement of individuals affected by the diversion of the Pench forest and the construction of a dam for irrigation purposes on the Pench River in Chhindwara, Madhya Pradesh.
At the Court's direction, the committee will conduct a thorough investigation after reviewing relevant records and undertaking site visits. The aim is to determine how many people were adversely affected by the project's implementation and the nature of their rehabilitation.
The Pench Project (Machhagora Dam) was established in 1988 to provide drinking water and irrigation facilities to 711 villages in the Chhindwara district of Madhya Pradesh. Reports indicate that the project acquired 5,607 hectares of land from 30 villages, resulting in the displacement of 2,572 families, which amounts to approximately 9,580 individuals.
The project primarily displaced members of the Dalit and tribal communities, depriving them of their traditional livelihoods. Their resettlement and rehabilitation should be conducted in accordance with the Madhya Pradesh Rehabilitation and Resettlement Policy of 2002. The committee is expected to submit its report within six months.
Abhay Verma, Commissioner, Revenue Department Jabalpur Division (MP) as Chairman of the seven-member rehabilitation and resettlement committee. The other six members of the committee are John Kingsly Secretary, Water Resources Department (M.P.), Anjali Shah, Additional Collector, District Narsingpur, GeetanjaySahu as expert member, Rajesh Darade, Assistant Inspector General of Forest, Sant Kumar Sirsam, Executive Engineer Pench Diversion Dam and Aakash Khare Executive Engineer PWD, Chhindwara (M.P.) as Member Secretary.
A bench of Justice Abhay S Oka and Justice Ujjal Bhuyan issued an order on April 17, 2025, establishing the committee.
“We leave it to the Committee to examine all aspects, including the issue of rehabilitation in terms of the 2002 Policy. We grant time of six months to the Committee to complete the exercise and submit a report to this Court,” the order states.
The Court directed the Committee to investigate all aspects of rehabilitation of the project-affected persons in accordance with the law.
The Court said, “We are concerned with 5607 hectares of land, and the rehabilitation examination will be of persons affected by the project of Pench diversification and dam construction for irrigation purposes on the river Pench at Chhindwara”.