Two days after accepting the demands of the Omkareshwar dam protestors in Khandwa district, the Madhya Pradesh government cracked down on a similar, peaceful protest in Harda. Police personnel forcibly evicted nearly 50 villagers of Badhkhaliya and Khardana sitting on a jal satyagraha against the Indira Sagar dam project on Wednesday morning.

The district authorities clamped prohibitory orders under Section 144 of IPC on the 15th day of the protest citing health concerns. Nearly 100 police and rapid action force personnel started dragging the protestors out of the river Narmada at dawn after making an announcement asking them to come out of the water. They also brought down a tent set up by the protestors on the bank forcing nearly 200 protestors into waiting ambulances. The police allegedly cut the cables of a TV channel to discourage any media coverage of the eviction. Harda collector Sudam Khade later announced that all protestors had been brought out of the water.

The villagers were demanding that the water level at the dam be lowered from 262 metres to 260 metres.

Chitrupa Palit, an activist who is partcipating in the jal satyagraha at Harda accused the Madhya Pradesh government of "double standards". Palit said that the police action was akin to "occupation by army".  She said that the police could not "arrest" the protestors even if there were any health concerns.

What happened at Harda this morning is in sharp contrast to the jal satyagraha at Ghogalgoan village in Khandwa. Chief minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan, on September 10, after 17 days of jal staygraha by the villagers, acceded to all their demands of lowering the water level at the Omkareshwar dam and giving land for land compensation.

The Indira Sagar protestors had raised similar demands and protested in a peaceful manner seating in neat file in neck-deep water. The Madhya Pradesh government had increased the watre level to 262 metres, a move that threatens to drown 19 villages; three have already submerged. Despite this, the state government has proposed to increase the water level futher by 0.2 metres.

The Naramada Bachao Andolan, which has been spearheading the jal satyagrahas, helped the villages affected by teh Omkareshwar and Indira Sagar dams, both part of the Indira Sagar project, demand proper rehabilitation for the villagers who have lost land or have been displaced by the project.