‘First shoot us, then build the dam’: Tribals oppose revival of decade old pending project in Bastar

Tribals oppose revival of decade old pending Bodhghat project in Bastar

RAIPUR: “First shoot us, then build the dam,” thousands of tribals warned on Sunday as Chhattisgarh’s move to revive the long-stalled Bodhghat multipurpose project triggered another round of resistance in Bastar after months, with residents of 56 villages saying they would not give up their land, forests and sacred sites for a project they fear could displace thousands.At a massive gathering in Hitalkudum village near Barsur, the site where the project was first proposed nearly five decades ago, villagers from 18 gram panchayats vowed to oppose any attempt to push ahead with the dam without their consent. Many arrived carrying traditional deities and religious symbols.Protesters alleged that the project could affect dozens of villages across Dantewada, Bijapur, Bastar and Narayanpur districts, submerge more than 16,000 hectares of forest and uproot tens of thousands of people.“On one hand the govt talks about development, on the other it is pushing destruction,” Bijapur MLA Vikram Mandavi told the gathering. “This is an attempt to uproot Bastar by taking away its jal, jungle and zameen. More than 50,000 people stand to be affected and the opposition to the project will only grow in the coming days.”Bodhghat Sangharsh Samiti president Shiv Kumar Mandavi said local communities had repeatedly conveyed their opposition to the project. “When we met the chief minister, he said the govt would speak to people and would not proceed if they did not want the project. We expect that assurance to be honoured,” he said.For many villagers, the issue extends beyond compensation and rehabilitation. Villagers said the project threatened to submerge forests, hills, caves and ancestral sites that form the core of Bastar’s tribal identity.“People can be relocated, but how will the government relocate our gods?” asked Vidyadhar Nag, janpad member. “Our deities live in these forests, mountains and caves. If they disappear under water, no compensation can replace them.”Several villagers said that the project threatened more than homes and farmland. They said forests, hills, caves and sacred sites associated with tribal deities would be submerged, causing an irreversible loss to Bastar’s cultural heritage.The agitation comes amid reports that survey activities linked to the project have resumed after decades, rekindling one of Bastar’s oldest development-versus-displacement battles, an officer told TOI.The Sangharsh Samiti warned that if authorities proceed with surveys or project-related activities without local consent, affected villages would launch a prolonged agitation across Bastar.In a memorandum addressed to the national commission for scheduled tribes, the affected villagers and the Bodhghat Sangharsh Samiti alleged that survey work was being carried out without obtaining the consent of gram sabhas as required under the panchayats (extension to scheduled areas) Act (PESA) and the forest rights Act (FRA). In the memorandum, they demanded that all project-related activities be immediately halted until complete information about the project is shared with affected villages and their written consent obtained. The villagers also sought recognition of community and individual forest rights, implementation of provisions relating to resource planning and management committees (RPMC) under PESA Rules, 2022, and warned that any further action without these approvals would be treated as a violation of constitutional and legal safeguards available to tribal communities.Officials in the state govt stated that the proposed project could significantly improve irrigation, generate hydroelectric power and support long-term development in the region. Officials have said the ongoing exercise is aimed at reassessing the project’s feasibility before any final decision is taken.TOI sought a comment from Dantewada district administration and officials said they would get back with more details. What is the Bodhghat project?The Bodhghat multipurpose project is a proposed hydroelectric and irrigation project on the Indravati river near Barsur in Dantewada district. Conceived in the 1979, it was designed to generate power and provide irrigation benefits across Bastar. However, concerns over large-scale displacement, forest submergence and environmental impacts stalled the project for decades. With the state govt recently reviving surveys linked to the project, the proposal has once again become one of the most contentious development issues in tribal Bastar.