It is even remarkable that three states actually agreed on a formula for water and power sharing formula and backed a single plan for the dam. Usually, narrow state, political, and regional interests dominate discussions leading to a stalemate debate. Numerous cases in the South such as the Cauvery, Krishna, Godavari, and Bhima River disputes show how petty politicking can cause innumerable hardships and threaten the lives and livelihood of people who depend on these rivers for survival. Hence, the very fact that the first stage evolved is a democratic miracle and the innumerable environmental, societal, developmental, and human rights objections raised were overcome through incensed and intense debate. While most detractors of the project essentially accepted the logic, the Narmada Bachao Andolan (NBA) led by Medha Patkar, which sought to fight for the rights of the 300 odd families affected by the dam continued to generate opposition in various forums but was vastly ignored. 

After the initial hurdle, the proponents of the dam sought to raise the height so more water can be captured. This new proposal infused life into the NBA which highlighted the plight of those affected and fought to stop the project and if that was unsuccessful to stop the increased height. The Narmada Control Authority (NCA) was formed to review this proposal and also the opposition. The NCA evaluated the development parameters projected such as increased water storage and power generation and also investigated the negative effects such as environment, displacement of families, and cost escalation. They took an informed view that although there is a cost in environment and human displacement, the cost of building the project is worth when the sheer number of downstream population that will benefit from access to drinking water, irrigation, and power. The NBA disagreed with this decision and too the NCA to court.

The NBA’s current agitation has been that the states benefiting from the project lied to the NCA and that most of the affected people were not rehabilitated. Those given rehabilitation found the new sites unusable. They accused the State Governments of corruption where corrupt Government employees to pay a bribe to collect their rehabilitation moneys harassed rehabilitation awardees. Moreover, the NBA accused the State Government of lying when it claims to have resettled over 22,000 families. When repeated appeals to the federal Government yielded no result, the NBA resorted to an agitation, which turned violent. After the Government put down that agitation, Medha Patkar went on a fast-unto-death campaign. With her health faltering and additional support from Booker Prize winner Arundathi Roy and actor xxx Khan generated more publicity, the federal Government woke up to the disaster.