Dams induced displacement and resettlement in India a case study of Ranjit Sagar Dam Punjab

Abstract

Dams have played an important role in accelerating the pace of economic development along with catering the various other domestic needs of a nation. At a global scale these projects are credited for producing numerous benefits such as power generation, irrigation etc., but they have also been the subject of controversy on account of large scale land acquisition and subsequent displacement. In country like India which is third largest dams building nation and where still most of the people rely on land (primarily for agricultural activities) for their livelihood, displacement becomes subject of great controversy. newlineRanjit Sagar dam is India s one of a large dam project which was launched by Government of Punjab in order to exploit River Ravi s potential for boosting power generation and strengthening the irrigation. It s an inter-state project that involves land acquisition and subsequent displacement from three states i.e. Punjab, Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir. Project followed the resettlement in form of compensation through cash and jobs. Such resettlement failed to look after the well- being of the displaced as till date displaced have failed to recover from their socio-economic losses in terms of land, their support system and were left with discontentment that was inflicted by the project on the name of greater good. Since the policy was formulated without consultation from oustees, policymakers failed to understand the socio-economic set up of displaced and comprehend the importance of native place for an individual. newline newline