Monday, December 10, 2001 (Tehri):

The countdown has begun for the submergence of Tehri town. Work has finished on the two diversion tunnels of the dam and the entire town will soon be filled with water. However, the residents of the area are not leaving the historic town.

Along with some of the oldest forests and wild life that are about to disappear under deluge of reservoir water, thousands of lives will change drastically. "We travel to the Sirai village, which is one of the 129 villages that will be submerged. The rehabilitation process of the displaced has barely begun. In most cases, villagers have been given a pittance of Rs 40,000 to start life again. "What will I do with Rs 40,000? That has already finished. The government should have first given us land and rehabilitated us and then should have started the construction of the dam," argued Prema, a local resident.

The government however insists that rehabilitation work began years ago. Radha Ratauri, Collector, Tehri, asserted, "They have houses, they have plots. It is just that now they have to fight a mindset and be prepared to leave."

Anti-dam protests have echoed over the last four decades but this time the threat appears real. For the people of the area this symbol of development only means the destruction of the only home they know.