Saturday, April 15 2006 14:13 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

New Delhi: The Narmada Control Authority today (Apr 15, 2006) began a meeting here to review its earlier decision to raise the height of the Sardar Sarovar dam in the wake of protests by Narmada Bachao Andolan leader Medha Patkar.

The meeting is being attended among others by Union Water Resources Minister Saifuddin Soz, Enivironment and Forests Minister A Raja, Chief Ministers of Maharashtra, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan Vilasrao Deshmukh, Narendra Modi, Shivraj Singh Chouhan and Vasundhara Raje respectively.

Gujarat has been asserting that the Sardar Sarovar Project is the lifeline of the state which would cater to its huge water requirement, particularly in drought prone areas like Kutch.

Both Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh have been maintaining that they have been actively engaged in the rehabiliation work of the project affected families.

Chief Ministers of Rajasthan, Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh arrived together to attend the meeting. The Government had decided to call a meeting of NCA in the wake of protests by NBA led by Medha Patkar demanding an immediate halt on the work to increase the height of the SSP which they claim would displace 35,000 families.

Patkar, who has been on hunger strike since March 29, was forcibly removed to the AIIMS on April five after her health deteriorated. She has been consuming only lemon water since she was moved to the hospital.