Bhopal: MP government should stake claim for fishermen in Narmada Water Dispute Tribunal, says Medha Patkar   

Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): The Madhya Pradesh government should stake its claim for rights of fishermen before the Narmada Water Dispute Tribunal (NWDT) , said Narmada Bachao Andolan (NBA)’s activist Medha Patkar here on Thursday.

The activist talking to media persons said that the NWDT meeting will be convened on April 24 in Delhi for formation of a board of three states—Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Gujarat--for fishing rights in Sardar Sarovar water reservoir. She further said that Maharashtra has registered 21 cooperative societies in the state for fishermen but Madhya Pradesh is yet to register its 31 fishermen cooperative societies. If the board is constituted Gujarat will have its dominance on fishing and the Madhya Pradesh fishermen will be in great loss and so the state government should put its claim in the Tribunal meeting, said the activist.

The tribunal has been constituted to redress the interstate issues related to Narmada River between the MP, Maharashtra, Gujarat and Rajasthan.

Madhya Pradesh has been surrendering before Gujarat in the meeting though and if once Gujarat takes command on fishing, contractors will call the shots and Madhya Pradesh fishermen will lose their business, said Patkar.

Besides, Gujarat is using 91% of water from Sardar Sarovar but it is stressing on the contribution of three states—MP, Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh for rehabilitation. Maharashtra forced Gujarat for Rs 30 crore but Madhya Pradesh kept Mum, claimed Patkar. There are thousands of pending cases before the tribunal for rehabilitation, she added.

Under the Inter-State Water Disputes Act, 1956, the Central Government had constituted Narmada Water Disputes Tribunal (NWDT) on October 6, 1969 to adjudicate upon the sharing of Narmada waters and for Narmada River valley development among the four States of Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Rajasthan.