Talking to the President
Six leading advocates of decentralisation and people centred planning met the President of India on 20 April to impress upon him that the Interlinking of Rivers project as currently being envisaged is the wrong direction for the country to take. They have since written a letter to Dr.Kalam addressing his questions. 5 May 2005 - Six prominent advocates of people centred policies met President Abdul Kalam on 20 April over the controversial and massive Interlinking of Rivers project proposal. They were Medha Patkar, L.C.Jain, Kuldip Nayar, Maj Gen S.G.Vombatkere (Retd), Himanshu Thakkar and Ramaswamy R. Iyer. Representing a growing body of opinion in the country about the ILR project, the six citizens were concerned that Dr.Kalam was repeatedly pushing for the ILR project at every possible opportunity in various fora, including when addressing school children. Taken together with the the Supreme Court's favourable views of the project, the entire government planning process with its checks and balances was (perhaps inadvertently) running the risk of being short-circuited. They engaged Dr.Kalam to persuade him to re-think some of the points that he has been stressing in favour of ILR, especially that flood and drought can be relieved at one shot by transferring surplus flood water to drought-prone regions. The meeting lasted around 45 minutes. Dr.Kalam is reported to have raised several questions at the meeting. On 3 May, the same individuals sent a jointly signed letter to the President addressing his questions and concerns. - - - - - - Medha Patkar has campaigned with the Narmada Bachao Andolan for many years to protect the rights of those displaced by the Sardar Sarovar dam project. L C Jain is a former member of the planning commission and former High Commissioner of India in South Africa. Kuldip Nayar is an author, former High Commissioner of India in the UK and Rajya Sabha MP. S G Vombatkere retired from the army in the rank of Major General. He holds a PhD degree in Structural Engineering is presently engaged in voluntary social work. Himanshu Thakkar heads the South Asia Network for Dams, Rivers and People in New Delhi. Ramaswamy Iyer is well known expert on water, author of several works including 'Water : perspectives, issues and concerns', and formerly Secretary of Water Resources at the Central Government. - - - - - - For more information please see the link: http://www.indiatogether.org/2005/may/env-kalamletr.htm
