Alok Agarwal

Narmada Bachao Andolan

From 1990 to 2000, Alok Agarwal was an active member of the Narmada Bachao Andolan team, which, along with the people of Nimar plains, has mobilized many protests against the construction of the Sardar Sarovar Dam. Owing to the stiff resistance from this movement, the World Bank undertook an independent review of the project plan that concluded the project to be falling short of World Bank policies and guidelines of the Government of India. Subsequently, in 1995 World Bank's participation was cancelled by the Government of India.

From 1998 onwards, Alok and his colleagues launched a series of protests in the area of other large dams on the Narmada river, namely Maheshwar, Indirasagar, Omkareshwar, Upper Beda and Maan.^[6] In 2002, Alok along with the Narmada Bachao Andolan team was instrumental in procuring a compensation of INR 10 crore for the families displaced by the Maan dam project. In 2005, Alok and his team won a High Court ruling against the state government which prevented the latter from using the police force and bulldozers in the Indirasagar Dam area for the displacement of people. The court ruling also granted a compensation amounting to INR 11 crore for the displaced people.

Alok, Chittaroopa and their colleagues initiated Jal Satyagraha, a form of peaceful resistance where protesters stand in water to demand compensation and rehabilitation of the families displaced by the Omkareshwar and Indirasagar Dam dams. In response to these protests in 2011-12, the Supreme Court of India ruled in favour of the displaced people and ordered the government to give "land for land". In the initial survey done for the Indirasagar Dam area, the government had initially excluded about 8000 houses and 5000 acres of land coming under submergence from the scope of the compensation. However, after prolonged protests from Alok and his team, these areas were included in the scope, and compensation was granted to the families.

In 2012, in response to a 17-day Jal Satyagraha by Alok and his colleagues, the government kept the level of the Omkareshwar Dam to 189 meters^[7][8] along with an additional rehabilitation package of INR 224 crore. This package consisted of an additional payment of INR 2 lakh per acre for all the farmers and a payment of INR 2.5 lakh for each of the landless families. Moreover, a compensation of INR 11.5 crores was granted to 113 tribal families whose forest lands were encroached by the Omkareshwar Dam’s embankments. Additionally, the efforts from Alok Agarwal’s team have resulted in CBI and Lokayukta inquiry into several instances of corruption in disbursement of compensation money.

In September 2013, Alok’s team of Narmada Bachao Andolan led another Jal Satyagraha in three districts of Madhya Pradesh – Khandwa, Dewas and Harda, to press their demands of maintaining the height of the Indirasagar to 260 meters.^[7][9][10] In April 2015, another Jal Satyagraha began in Khandwa district.

Alok Agarwal has also been an activist against the privatization of water and electricity. In 2003, his Narmada Bachao Andolan team took a lead role in a statewide "Bijli Bachao-Azadi Bachao" movement^[11] organized by Jan Sangharsh Morcha (a federation of several social movements of Madhya Pradesh) against the privatization and rise of electricity tariffs. Similarly, the organizations working against the privatization of water have also been receiving active support from Alok. Considering the need for a common front to respond to the multiple kinds of problems faced by the farmers, tribals and workers of the region, Alok’s team helped form the "Nimar - Malwa Kisan Mazdoor" organization.^[12]

Alok has also led water harvesting projects to ensure the availability of water in the tribal areas. Along with his co-workers Alok Agarwal spent a month in the rehabilitation and relief work after the Gujarat earthquake.