Indian Villagers Defy Flood Threat From Dam

Tens of thousands of Indian villagers defied a government deadline last night to move out of their homes despite the threat of their centuries-old settlements being submerged by rising waters in the coming weeks from a river dam project being constructed in central India.

Monsoon rains, which are sweeping India, will raise river levels and engulf hundreds of villages which line the Narmada river in the state of Madhya Pradesh.

Nearly 40,000 people live in potential flood zones, and three-quarters have refused to leave, saying the government has been unmoved by the plight of those displaced and that promises of cash or land have proved empty.

In Harsud, the only sizeable town in the path of the rising river, more than 25,000 people have declined official offers to move to a new township created by the state government 17km (10 miles) away.

Until last week, only 175 families had moved to the new town, which still does not have sewerage facilities.

"The government suddenly asked me to move. I went to the new town, but there is no water, electricity, roads or healthcare facilities," Rajjab Ali, a resident of Harsud, told Associated Press.

Although the Madhya Pradesh government has offered compensation of up to 500,000 rupees (£6,250), few families have been able to take the cash as it only became available in April.

The Narmada dam project has long been controversial in India, with the World Bank pulling out after a report revealed the Indian government's apparent inability to rehouse displaced people. It includes a series of 3,000 dams across the Narmada Valley, which cuts across three Indian states: Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra.

Activists have tried to block the project in the courts. Earlier this week, a local high court in Madhya Pradesh ordered the authorities to provide basic facilities such as power, potable water, health services and schooling in the new town by next week.

However, the state government, run by the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata party, has been pressing for the project to go ahead. Police have warned Harsud's residents that they will be on their own if a rainstorm sweeps the town away.

The authorities say that the project will not only bring drinking water to 40 million people and irrigate arid land; it will generate much-needed electricity. On completion, it will generate 1,000MW of electricity in a state where power shortages can topple governments.