The Narmada River Gallery

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.

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

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

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

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.

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

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

Adivasi fisherman at Nimgavan, Maharashtra.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.