Abstract:

Sardar Sarovar Project (SSP) is an Inter-State Multi Purpose project of national importance in India that includes participation from the States of Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Rajasthan. The project has undertaken the construction of a dam across Narmada River at Navegaon village of Bharuch District in the Gujarat State, on the border of Gujarat and Maharashtra states. The multi-million dollar project involves the construction of some 3,200 small, medium and large dams on the river Narmada. There are several proposed benefits of the project including the provision of irrigation water to over 445 million acres of land, drinking water to 8,215 villages and 135 towns, and 1450 mega watts of power at the dam.* Even if all of these benefits are achieved, however, there is still the problem that many local villages will be submerged with the result that these people will have to be resettled. This thesis develops proposals for replacement villages that respect the existing cultures of the villages even as they achieve more sustainable settlement patterns and infrastructure.

The resettlement policy and its implementation have provided an untested opportunity for a sustainable development of the indigenous people and their housing conditions. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)