(1.) The petitioner No. 1 is a senior social activist of Narmada Bachao Andolan and was a member of the World Commission on Dams. The petitioners No.2 to 7 are persons affected by the canals of Omkareshwar and Indira Sagar Projects in Districts Dhar and Badwani. The petitioners have filed this writ petition under Article 226 of the Constitution as a public interest litigation claiming appropriate reliefs in respect of the work now being carried on by respondents No. 1 and 2 in connection with the canals of the Indira Sagar and Omkareshwar Projects on the Narmada ri
(2.) The background facts are that the Narmada Valley Devel o pment Project consists of several large and medium dam projects. Indira Sagar and Omkareshwar Dam Projects are two such projects located in the State of Madhya Pradesh. For the Indira Sagar Proiect, which was earlier known as Narmada Sagar Project, the Government of India, Ministry of Environment and Forests, granted environmental clearance by Office Memorandum dated 24th June, 1987 and for the Omkareshwar multipurpose Project, the Governme, Ministry of E nvironment and Forests, granted environmental clearance by Office Memorandum dated 13th October, 1993. After the construction of the Indira Sagar and Omkareshwar dams, the construction of the main and branch canals of the Indira Sagar Project started in 1991 and the construction of main and branch canals of the Omkareshwar Project started in 2006. The petitioners have filed this writ petition praying that no work on the canals be carried out without the execution of Resettlement and Rehabilitation Plans and without completion of Command Area Development Plans and without approval of these plans by the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests. The petitioners have also prayed that agricultural land in the Narmada region which is already irrigated be protected and displacement of persons be minimised by construction of the canal network. The petitioners have further prayed that the land acquisition process be quashed and no canal excavation work be carried out without prior consultation with the Gram Sabha in accordance with the provisions of the Panchayat (Extension to Schedule Areas) Act, 1996 (for short "the PESA Act").
(3.) On 23.6.2009, the Court after hearing Ms. Medha Patkar for the petitioners issued notices to the respondents and thereafter on 1.7.2009 after hearing, the parties took the view that if the Court does not pass any order of status quo and the Court finally declares the acquisition proceedings void and directs restoration of the land to the land owners and if the State continues to spend more money on excavation of land and on construction of the canals, the State will suffer greater loss. The Court was of the further view that the better course in the public interest would be to hear the writ petition as early as possible and decide the matter and in the meantime the respondents should maintain status-quo on the excavation work for the canal and in respect of land acquisition proceedings and accordingly passed an order of status quo on 1.7.2009.