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STATES: MADHYA PRADESH
Border On Edge
The dispute between Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh
over the pilgrim centre of Amarkantak may add a fifth state to the Narmada
dam tangle
By Neeraj Mishra
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NEW DIVIDE: The Narmada diverted and dammed in Amarkantak
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This is not an international
border so the dispute will not be settled with guns, but Amarkantak has
joined Hardwar as another pilgrim centre over which people of two states
and their leaders are crossing swords. Ever since the Chhattisgarh Government
started erecting a fence around the old Jaleshwar Mahadev temple there-claiming
sovereignty over the territory-tempers have been running high on both
sides of the state border. Chhattisgarh wants Amarkantak. Madhya Pradesh
will not let go. And the Speakers of the state Assemblies of both the
Congress-ruled states are playing advocates for their own sectarian considerations.
As the two state tussle over Amarkantak, an
unlikely outcome could be the complicating of the Narmada dam muddle.
Amarkantak is the source of the Narmada and the Sone. Both the rivers
trickle out as springs from the rocky Vindhyas. The Sone soon disappears
underground after about 200 yards to re-emerge in Bilaspur district but
the Narmada continues to flow on its westward journey towards the Arabian
Sea. More than Madhya Pradesh it is Gujarat which looks upon the Narmada
as its lifeline and while 29 major and 3,300 minor dams have been planned
on the nearly 2,500-km course of the river, none of them is in Chhattisgarh
or benefits it in any way. When Madhya Pradesh was bifurcated, nobody
thought of adding Amarkantak to Chhattisgarh. Subsequent to the formation
of the new state in 2000 though, political interests and factional considerations
have created a situation where a fifth state may be added to the Sardar
Sarovar Project controversy, already marred by disputes over river water
and power sharing.
Also at stake, besides the Narmada, are the
priceless coal and bauxite deposits. South Eastern Coalfields Limited
has its best mines in Chhattisgarh in the belt stretching from Shahdol
to Chirmiri. The bauxite deposits in the Vindhya ranges are only partly
exploited. Smelters in BALCO, Korba, are expected to get most of their
future supplies from the Surguja and Shahdol regions in Chhattisgarh.
The minor forest produce on both sides of the border yields close to Rs
20-crore worth of tendu patta, firewood and medicinal fruits like amla
and beheda. Obviously, neither state wants to let go of such huge mineral
and forest resources.
Amarkantak is a small pilgrim centre with a
population of 3,000 people. Its economy is dependent on Chhattisgarh whose
borders are less than 7 km away by road. Pendra, the nearest railway station,
is less than 40 km away. The devout who have set up ashrams by the dozen
in the hill resort have suddenly realised that it may actually be more
beneficial to be a part of Chhattisgarh. The roads leading from Pendra
to Amarkantak have suddenly sprung barriers, with road transport authorities
on both sides charging toll on the entry of goods. This may begin to ruin
the fragile economy of the place. The roads in Shahdol district are so
pathetic that the 105-km journey to the district headquarters and the
railhead takes five hours, forcing people to depend on Pendra for their
business and shopping needs. The condition of roads in Chhattisgarh is
slightly better, so is the power infrastructure. While Chhattisgarh has
100 per cent power supply in almost all districts-the state is actually
power surplus-there are 10-12 hour power cuts in rural areas in Madhya
Pradesh. This has made the local population-egged on by various sadhus,
mostly from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar-prefer Chhattisgarh more.
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