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The Narmada River Gallery

There are 7 pages in this gallery. This is page 5.

~ The Narmada River Gallery Contents ~
{#1 The NBA (Photographs)}{#2 Protest (Photographs)}{#3 Livelihood (Photographs)}
{#4 Ritual (Photographs)}{#5 Tribal (Photographs)}{#6 A River Of Dams (Words)}{#7 Maps}

#5 Tribal

 

67.7 million of the worlds 220 million indigenous people live in India making up roughly 8% of the population. Despite this minority status most of India's "development" projects seem to occur on tribal lands, resulting in their displacement. The tribal people of India collectively call themselves Adivasi and largely lack political representation. The Indian government has claimed that all Hindus in India are indigenous and the Adivasi are lapsed or "backward" Hindus existing outside of the caste system, some right wing Hindus insist that the Adivasi should be brought back into the Hindu fold.

Adivasi activists claim that development projects happen on their land because they are outside of the political system and can be manipulated. In the main they are subsistence farmers and displacement by development removes their independence and forces them to enter "main stream" society, usually selling their labour for pitiful wages. The SSP Dam benefited from World Bank funding, however, an independent report (the Morse Report) was so critical of the project the treatment of Tribal people that the World Bank withdrew funding in 1993. The Morse Report pointed out that the Narmada Adivasi fulfil all of the World Bank criteria for an indigenous populations and therefore are entitled to the protection granted by the World Bank to Indigenous peoples. The view of developers at the SSP Dam quoted in the Morse report that those in factory-made shirts are "detribalised" was found to be untenable. The World Bank had never before, or has ever since, allowed an independent report into any of the projects they fund.

Either click the individual thumbnail images to view them full size or view the whole set as a slide show.

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Adivasi winnowing a cereal crop at Domikhedi, Maharashtra. The SSP DAM will submerge this village and its occupants are supposed to be resettled in the flat lands of Gujarat.

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Adivasi still brave the reservoir waters in their unstable dungi to catch fish. SSP reservoir near Jelsindhi, Madhya Pradesh.

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Goatherd at Jelsindhi, Madhya Pradesh. The SSP Dam will submerge this village.

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Gulab Sighn (an Adivasi NBA activist) and his children at Jelsindhi, Madhya Pradesh.
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Gulab Sighn'a wife, an Adivasi NBA activist at Jelsindhi, Madhya Pradesh.
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One of Gulab Sighn's (an Adivasi NBA activist) children at Jelsindhi, Madhya Pradesh. The SSP Dam will submerge this village.

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Domikhedi, Maharasthtra. The local Adivasi build their houses with wicker walls which makes the interiors well-ventilated and cool. The SSP Dam will submerge this village.

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Flour milling in Nimgavan, Maharashtra. The SSP Dam will submerge this village.

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Nimgavan, Maharastra. The SSP Dam will submerge this village.

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Nimgavan, Maharastra. The SSP Dam will submerge this village.
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Adivasi fisherman at Nimgavan, Maharashtra.

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Adivasi brave the waters in their Dungi (log boat). These boats are not stable in the reservoir formed by the completion of the first stage of the SSP Dam. Winds whip across the large surface area of water and the eddie currents have become unpredictable. Domikhedi, Maharashtra.

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Thick silt deposits left by the receding monsoon waters at Domikhedi, Maharashtra. The near stagnant waters of the SSP reservoir allow silt to settle out, before this dries it creates a dangerous and impassable layer of mud necessitating a long walk to find a place from where water can be safely drawn. The NBA claim that the siltation rates for the SSP Dam have been miscalculated that silt will seriously reduce the dams useful life span.

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Thick silt deposits left by the receding monsoon waters at Domikhedi, Maharashtra. The near stagnant waters of the SSP reservoir allow silt to settle out, before this dries it creates a dangerous and impassable layer of mud necessitating a long walk to find a place from where water can be safely drawn. The NBA claim that the siltation rates for the SSP Dam have been miscalculated that silt will seriously reduce the dams useful life span.
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Vadaj II, Gujarat. One of the sites used to resettle Adivasi displaced by the SSP Dam. They have no land and have to sell their labour on a daily basis to the local cash crop farmers.

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Vadaj II, Gujarat. One of the sites used to resettle Adivasi displaced by the SSP Dam. The Adivasi here are weary of visitors and embarrassed that they have nothing to give guests. The only building material they have is corrugated iron, during the day this makes the houses unbearably hot and airless.

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Naimangron, Gujarat. One of the sites used to resettle Adivasi displaced by the SSP Dam.

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Bhaiji Bhai stands next to the SSP canal which runs off from the Sadar Sadovar Dam in Gujarat. He lost his house and land when the canal was built. Sugar cane cultivation, golf course resorts and water parks are planned along its 460 km length. According to the NBA, construction of the canal system for the SSP project will have displaced 170,000 families by the time it is completed.

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An Adivasi woman displaced by the Bargi Dam, building a mud hut in a Jabalpur slum, Madhya Pradesh. Many displaced Adivasi end up in city slums where the men try to find work as cycle rickshaw drivers and the women labour on building sites and road construction. The Bargi Dam (Madhya Pradesh) was finished in 1990 and displaced 114,000 people, official estimates were that it would displace 44,000.

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Inside the house of an Adivasi displaced by the Bargi Dam. Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh. Many displaced Adivasi end up in city slums where the men try to find work as cycle rickshaw drivers and the women labour on building sites and road construction. The Bargi Dam (Madhya Pradesh) was finished in 1990 and displaced 114,000 people, official estimates were that it would displace 44,000.

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Adivasi displaced by the Bargi Dam. Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh. Many displaced Adivasi end up in city slums where the men try to find work as cycle rickshaw drivers and the women labour on building sites and road construction. The Bargi Dam (Madhya Pradesh) was finished in 1990 and displaced 114,000 people, official estimates were that it would displace 44,000.

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Representation of an Adivasi man, part of an exhibit in the Shoopaneshwar wild life sanctuary visitors centre. The sanctuary is to be extended to compensate for the forest areas lost to the SSP Dam reservoir. According to the NBA the 40 000 Adivasi who live within the sanctuary's boundaries are being "persuaded" to leave.


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~ The Narmada River Gallery Contents ~
{#1 The NBA (Photographs)}{#2 Protest (Photographs)}{#3 Livelihood (Photographs)}
{#4 Ritual (Photographs)}{#5 Tribal (Photographs)}{#6 A River Of Dams (Words)}{#7 Maps}

{Galleries}>>{India Galleries }>>{The Narmada River Gallery #5} © R S Grove. 2001-2007