Jal satyagraha: Police forcibly evict protesters in Harda Zeenews Bureau
Harda (Madhya Pradesh): The Madhya Pradesh Police cracked down against the protesters on ‘jal satyagraha’ in Harda on Wednesday morning, forcibly evicting some of the villagers from water. The villagers and activists, demanding the lowering of water level in the Indira Sagar Dam and land for land in rehabilitation, have been standing in neck-deep water for the past two weeks in protest. The cops began evicting villagers from the protest site citing health concerns. Ambulances have also been deployed at the protest site. On Monday, the state government had ceded to the demands of villagers in Ghogalgaon, who were also on ‘jal satyagraha’ for 17 days, and decided not to increase the water level in Omkareshwar Dam beyond 189 meters. The Shivraj Singh Chouhan government also agreed to land for land as rehabilitation demand of the affected villagers. Similar to the protests in Ghogalgaon, nearly 100 people from Khardana and Badhkhaliya villages in Harda, who were affected by the rising waters in Indira Sagar Dam, had been on ‘jal satyagrah’ for the last two weeks. The state government has deployed over 1,500 police personnel from Harda, Betul and Hoshangabad districts, including women police force, in the area. It has also clamped Section 144 around the ‘jal satyagraha’ site. The protesters in Harda have been demanding that water level in the Indira Sagar Dam be lowered from 262 metres to 260 metres. http://zeenews.india.com/news/madhya-pradesh/jal-satyagraha-police-forcibly-evict-protesters-i_799140.html
