Friends of the Earth International recently expressed deep concern at the growing humanitarian crisis in the Narmada valley of central India, where thousands of families were threatened by eviction without rehabilitation by the Sardar Sarovar Dam project.

Sardar Sarovar is the world’s second-largest concrete dam, completed in 2017. Initially financed by the World Bank, it has been at the center of controversy for a number of reasons, including its poor track record of rehabilitating communities affected by flooding. We learned that, flouting all policies and guidelines, nearly 32,000 families are yet to be compensated after the completion of the dam. Moreover, the Narmada Control Authority has been planning to fill the reservoir to its full level, threatening the submersion of hundreds of villages in the backwaters of the Narmada river. Recent media reports raising questions about possible corruption in the management of water, with farmers being deprived of their rightful share and work on canal networks remaining incomplete. Click here to read more.