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Medha Patkar, 40 others arrested

Medha Patkar and 40 other activists of the Narmada Bachao Andolan, who were arrested from a submergence site near Domkhedi in Nandurbar district of Maharashtra have been brought to Dhadgaon village of Akrani taluka in the same district.

Top officials of the state government visited the site to take stock of the situation. The water levels had peaked at around 99 meters yesterday. Patkar and others were waist deep in water for 18 hours since the levels rose dangerously late on Tuesday night.

Patkar and others refused to vacate the villages slated to be submerged by the rising waters of the Narmada and had threatened to do jalsamadhi to protest against the lack of proper rehabilitation facilities for those evicted by the project. Domkhedi has about 35 villages. When the agitators did not leave the place, the police arrested them.

Official sources who visited the site said that Patkar and her associates were arrested to prevent any untoward incident. The administration is committed to provide ideal rehabilitation to those displaced by the project, they added.

About 60 people along with Patkar was taken away by the police yesterday as the water levels were rising. However, today the levels had gone down, sources said.

UNI

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