Nalgonda cries for water, but politicians want their votes
J Sesha Sai in Nalgonda
'A devastating explosion has blown up the Srisailam
dam in Andhra Pradesh, washing away hundreds of villages. At least
a thousand people are feared killed...'
Just the thought of such an imaginary tragedy would
send shockwaves through the nation. As should the crushing blows that have bulldozed Telangana to slap such a threat.
Their blood is boiling. Their lands are wailing.
And their children have been cursed with a 'disease that
is more dreadful than AIDS,' reducing National Human Rights
Commission chairman Justice E S Venkatachellaiah to tears. But his tears will not
solve their problem, a glass of fresh river water would. River
water?
Yes, the government knows that only river water can cure
the dreadful fluorosis disease which twists new-born limbs into weird shapes, crippling them for life. That only river
water can end the perennial droughts affecting Nalgonda. But the
state and the central governments have done little, forcing the
birthplace of revolutions to raise the banner of revolt again.
"Give us river water by 2003, or face
the consequences," Jala Saadhana Samithi president Dushherla
Satyanarayana seethes with rage. "The Srisailam dam will
be blown up if our district does not get river water by then."
The 45-year-old social activist hates taking such a violent
step and will try democratic protest for another five years.
Till his patience runs dry. His track record shows he means business.
Launching the Samithi nine years ago, he gave up a career as a bank officer, a decision which has now left him penniless. "The Union
Bank of India asked me to forget the Samithi," he says.
"And they were ready to give me everything. But I dared them
to sack me." Confirming this, bank sources pitied that such
an honest and forthright person was in dire straits.
Satyanarayana, who hails from a poor Gowda (toddy
tapper) family in rural Nalgonda, is no longer in a position to
rent accommodation. He cannot even afford a small room, forcing him to stay in a hut erected by his poor Samithi colleagues who have a lot of affection but
little money.
Braving betrayal and conspiracy that tried to cripple
the movement, Satyanarayana's JSS shot to fame in the 1996 Lok
Sabha election when the poll process came to a grinding halt.
The Election Commission had grappled with the backbreaking load
of nominations -- the JSS filed 450-odd nominations to highlight
the water problem. The election in the constituency had to be
put off by a month as the EC set out to print a wallpaper-sized
ballot paper...
"Actually, my plan was to wait till this election,
when we would be in a position to file at least 1,000 nominations,"
says Satyanarayana. "But some of our colleagues conspired
to ensure that we took the hasty step. They thought that no one
would file a nomination, leaving me crestfallen.
"But the response shocked them, and they deserted us as
soon as the war began. We could not achieve our goal of stalling
the election, and forcing the government down on its knees."
But no disappointment or disaster has ever succeeded
in weaning him away from the movement. And he continues to visit
several villages in the district at night on his Hero Honda motorcycle,
given by his bank when he worked with it. The mission: to spread
the JSS message of how Nalgonda has got a raw deal.
The driving force behind the movement is his late
stepmother who struggled to see her six stepchildren rise to excellent
positions. "When droughts hit the area, we used to survive
on the tender stalk of the palm tree. And my stepmother -- I have greater regard and love for her than my own mother who is still alive -- used to pay a 125
per cent usury to keep our education going. Our family friends
still remind us how she used to plead with the teachers to turn
us into excellent professionals in just a year or two. How can I
forget her or her struggle for water? Because of perennial droughts there are millions of people like her. Fifty years after Independence we are in no better position.
"Children still die of fluorosis, crops still
wither away as the farmer gears up to a reap a rich harvest. You
will understand the farmer's agony if you ever planted a sapling
in your life, and saw it dying because you could not find water..."
The JSS demands that the Srisailam Left Bank Canal
should be completed immediately. So that it can bring a virtual
green revolution to the region besides ending the scourge of
fluorosis.
"So far five foundation stones have been laid for the project, beginning with then chief minister N T Rama Rao in 1984,"
he says. "Actually, they are tomb stones. Not much work has
been done so far."
Several agitations, padyatras, protests and hunger
strikes -- including two at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi -- have been
organised. He was jailed for 17 days during July-August 1996,
but refused to seek bail. "No other person would have been
held on such a nice charge -- demanding water," laughs Satyanarayana.
His adamant attitude saw the government do a somersault, and he
was released unconditionally. The Nalgonda police confirmed this,
praising the struggle of the former bank employee and his wife
Laxmi who recently went on a fast unto death.
"Going without food is nothing unusual for them,"
says his neighbour. "On occasions, they are not in a position
to afford even a kg of rice."
But still, the social activist refuses to accept
donations from businessmen. "I hate giving donations,"
says hotelier Druva Kumar. "But, considering his sincerity
and the genuineness of the problem -- all of us stand to gain if the problem
is redressed -- I offered to help him in raising funds. But he
turned down the offer. It is impossible to tempt him."
To tarnish his image, a rival organisation has been
floated. And it is alleged that the 'duplicate outfit' has collected
huge sums. But Satyanarayana refuses to comment on its activities.
Asked who funds his struggle, he says the members's meagre contributions
keep it going -- they bring their own rice, their own vessels and
they pay for tickets to attend protest rallies. "Even
our Delhi trips have been funded in a similar way."
Despite the nine-year struggle, the government expects
the activists to survive on its empty promises. Chief Minister
Chandrababu Naidu had, while addressing an election rally in Nalgonda, promised to complete the SLBC
by 2000. But no one is convinced.
"When so much water is flowing into the Bay of Bengal our leaders say
there is no water," says the activist. "Because the
political leadership, dominated by a particular caste, feels that
the villagers will not vote for them if they have ample water.
Water brings prosperity which, in turn, blesses the people with
the ability to think clearly. And politicians dread this.
Late Hyderabad state chief minister Boogula Ramakrishna Rao had openly
admitted the apprehension, when he reportedly said, 'Land reforms
have stripped Patels and Patwaris (landlords and village officers)
of their power. If you (the villagers) get water, we (politicians)
will lose our power. The politicians's great grandfathers were against giving us water. They are against it. And their great great grandsons will
continue to pursue the same policy.
"Such is the scare that, in 1989, then chief minister
Mari Channa Reddy had directed that the work on the SLBC should be
stopped forthwith."
When his successor N Janardhana Reddy asserted that the project would
never be taken up as there was no water in the dam, Satyanarayana
had asked Nalgonda children to dash off postcards to then prime
minister P V Narasimha Rao, highlighting the villagers's plight.
"Rao immediately asked Reddy to revive the project," claims the activist. "Later, Kotla Vijayabhaskara Reddy, who succeeded Janardhana Reddy,
made a sincere effort to revive the project."
But Nalgonda's struggle continued as the other leaders's
designs persisted. One thoughtful statement sums it up best.
A devout Shiv bhakt, Satyanarayana was one day walking
endlessly around the Mallikarjuna temple in Srisailam. Seeing
his devotion, Swami Vijayendra Saraswati of the Kanchi Kamakoti Peetam summoned the activist to his chambers in the temple complex. "It is
shocking that the same water which reaches Madras through the Telugu Ganga canal (initiated by NTR and his Tamil Nadu counterpart MGR)
is not available for the locals," the swami seems to have
told the activist.
Nalgonda is just a stone's throw away from Srisailam.
And even closer to the Nagarjuna Sagar dam. "Yet the water
from these dams cover very little area in the district,"
says the activist. "The canals have been dug in such a way
that the water irrigates Miryalguda (the neighbouring district)
before reaching Khammam, as if the water is keen on skipping Nalgonda."
Agreeing that a grave injustice has been done to the district, senior irrigation officials at the SLBC's camp office at Gandhamvarigudem village, near Nalgonda, say, "No project can cover all the areas of a district. Some
talukas would be uplands for any project."
The senior-most officer associated with the project,
however, refused to to talk to Rediff On The NeT, saying the matter is
'very confidential'. "You can write whatever you
want," he said. "But I am not giving you any information.
Sorry, it involves inter-state disputes."
Another allegation against the government is that,
while mindboggling sums have been spent on the Srisailam Right Bank Canal, only about
Rs 1 billion has been spent on the SLBC. "This is so as the
project has not been cleared by the Central Water Commission -- god
knows how the CM proposes to complete it by 2000!" says another
senior SLBC engineer. "As a result, the project
will not get central and international funds."
Blaming politicians for this, the activist says,
"In Nalgonda, even if a donkey contests an election on a
Communist ticket, it will win. So other parties do not take up
any development work. And the Communists are not interested
as they fear nobody will vote for them once they are well-off."
The senior engineer, however, blames the people. "Though they live in the same district the people
vote different parties to power. So, none of the parties seems
interested in helping them."
Will the people vote more sensibly this time -- the Congress
has fielded V Hanumantha Rao, the BJP N Indrasen Reddy and the
Communist Party of India Suravaram Sudharkar Reddy, ignoring the
claims of its sitting MP Dharmabiksham? To register its protest
again, the JSS plans to make its votes invalid by stamping against
all the candidates.
The stoic indifference seems strange in a place known
for its fiery tradition of revolutions. The Telangana peasant
struggle, demanding land rights for the poor, was born in Nalgonda
area and shook the Nizam's government between 1944 and 1948. So
deep was its impact that the Leftist Progressive Democratic Front
swept the 1952 Lok Sabha poll. And its legendary leader Ravi Narayan
Reddy polled the highest number of votes in the country.
This forced Jawaharlal Nehru to think of the Bhoodan movement. Launched in Pochampally -- also known for its
world famous tie-and-die silk saris -- the movement urged
landlords to distribute their surplus land among the poor.
At the forefront of the movement was Vinoba Bhave.
Furious with the development, Ravi Narayan Reddy
distributed his land, running into thousands of acres, among the
poor. Such selfless gestures also saw the Communists bagging 75
out of the 175 assembly seats in the 1952 election -- that was
the time when Telangana, parts of Marathwada and Karnataka were
still in Hyderabad state.
But, with the subsequent years exposing the Left's
hypocrisy, the Communists soon
lost their foothold.
Agreed that the Telangana Peasant Struggle contributed
a great deal towards improving the poor farmer's lot. But of what
use is the land if there isn't enough water to raise the crops
-- Nalgonda has little ground water? Why don't the Leftists launch
a struggle or join hands with the JSS to ensure that the SLBC
is completed?
"During the Nizam's time, we had followed the
path of rebellion and revolution," says CPI MLA Boddupalli Rama Sarma. "Now it is unity
and revolution."
What Sarma is trying to say is this: "We won't revolt
against the Telugu Desam Party government as we share power with
them." The CPI is N Chandrababu Naidu's electoral ally.
Elections '98
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