ABSTRACT
Early March, 2003 – beneath a makeshift shelter that had been put up outside the tehsil headquarters in the centre of Alirajpur town, some 150 adivasi activists from the Narmada Bachao Andolan had gathered for a dharna – a sit-down demonstration – to protest the imminent submergence of their villages as the height of the SSP was being raised to 95 metres. Throughout most of the day, the activists compiled files of papers that confirmed the villagers’ right to resettlement and rehabilitation (R&R), and discussed plans of action for the coming days; their efforts were centred on eliciting a commitment from the sub-divisional magistrate – the most senior administrative official in the tehsil – that he would deal with the complaints of the dam-affected communities.
