B.G.Verghese, journalist and former editor of The Hindustan Times and Indian Express, has for the better part of the last decade, been studying the use of water for social advancement. Among his works are the landmark Waters of Hope (Oxford IBH 1990), and the more recent Winning the Future: From Bhahra to Narmada, Tehri, Rajasthan Canal, and Converting Water into Wealth (1996, which he co-edited).
HSA's Mitu Varma met Mr Verghese in New Delhi to seek his views on the need for large water projects such as Narmada.
The Narmada Bachao Andolan´s major quarrel with the $3 billion Sardar Sarovar Project is that it will displace more than 200,000 people. What are your own views?
People in that region are already being displaced by hunger because of inadequate harvests resulting from uncertain rainfall, lack of irrigation facilities and the environmental degradation caused by population pressures. The harvest is not sufficient even in a good year. Seasonal migration is common and sometimes entire families leave in search of livelihood. They land up in the cities as unskilled labour. When they are being moved in a planned manner and given a better deal than at present, I do not see any cause for protest. It is true that displacement from one´s natural environment is traumatic and that people should be dealt with compassion, sympathy, understanding and generosity, but it doesn´t make sense to abandon a project which will actually improve their standard of living.