Displacement in Subernrekha multi-purpose project and civil society organisation's intervention

The displacement of peoples from areas where two large dams are being constructed under the Subarnarekha Multi-purpose Project (SMP),is the focus for this paper. Different organisations directed/are directing the movements in these two areas. These are the Chandil dam area and the Icha dam area. Most of the construction work of Chandil dam is over. Many villages are submerged in the dam waters, and still more during the rainy season. Icha dam has not been constructed and there has not been displacement there due to waterlogging. There has been movement for proper rehabilitation of the displaced in the Chandil area, and no-dam movement in the Icha area.

The paper attempts to analyse the following issues:

• the response of civil society directly affected by the project, towards the project and its effects
• what type of intervention did the civil society organisation make?
• what attitude did the governance adopt towards the intervention by the civil society organisation?
• which issues and dimensions of governance emerged in the total process of the intervention by the civil society and what was the attitude of the government towards that?
• what changes occured in the situation, policies and relations with the interaction between the civil society and the government, and what were the shortcomings?
• which of the factors were considered essential at the level of policies, procedures, activities of the civil society and organisations to bring about better governance and advanced democratic systems?

The paper concludes by summarising various implications, conclusions and lessons learnt from the two case studies

• although there was no regular and direct co-ordination between the CSOs of Icha and Chandil, the movements of both the organisations have helped each other
• the rehabilitation movement cannot be called statusquoist or surrenderist or a supporter of the existing development, as radical dimensions can be incorporated in it
• it is necessary to evolve a broad national mass campaign for achieving a democratic project policy and rehabilitation policy
• a non-governmental organisation should be assigned to supervise the projects and the implementation of rehabilitation and to make recommendations with regard to that
• these movements have brought a qualitative change in the socio-cultural-political character of these areas and a positive dynamism has developed in the respective societies. The movements have helped prepare a ground for people's intervention in the existing system of governance and development