Inspirational True Life Story - Medha Patkar

Not a day passes with out an article about Medha Patkar and her fast. Today there was a news article that stated that an organization by name Narmada Abiyan, planing to stage a demonstration in support of Sardar Sarovar Dam, highlighting the benefits of the project. Still Medha Patkar and her fight is for a worthy cause. Though this just goes to reinforce the fact that "There is always two sides to a coin" we wish to present her in the Inpirational true life story. She has shown exemplary courage in serving for the villagers and tribal communities.

Medha Patkar's struggle began in 1985, when world bank financed "Sardar Sarovar Dam" project across the river Narmada was announced. Medha Patkar was the strategist and central organizer of Narmada Bachao Andolan (NBA), which was a people's movement formed to stop the construction of these dams across the river Narmada. Projects on Completion would surely submerge more than 35,000 hectares of forest and agricultural land. Apart from this approximately half a million villagers would have to be relocated. Already submersion of villages have taken place causing lot of hardship to these villagers who stand to loose their livelihood and their hangs a big question mark about the future of these villagers. Various reports from magazines and dailies also indicate that the governments have not kept up to their promises made to these displaced villagers. In 1991, 93 & 94 she under took long protest fasts of which the first one was lasted for 22 days. Even this year she has under gone hunger strikes and she has received immense support from Booker Prize winner Arundathi Roy and many other international writers, scholars and critics. They indicate that her claim of tardy rehabilitation of the Narmada dam-displaced families should be taken seriously. She is the winner of The Right Livelihood Award, an alternative Nobel Peace Prize.

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