The Narmada Bachao Andolan (NBA) today said that the union environment ministry has amply made it clear that there has been no progress on rehabilitation and resettlement measures even five months after the suspension of work on the Maheshwar Dam in Madhya Pradesh.

The union ministry had written a letter in this regard to the Madhya Pradesh chief secretary, Avani Vaish pointing out the lack of rehabilitation and resettlement for oustees of the Maheshwar dam, NBA leader Alok Agarwal told reporters here.

"We challenge the Madhya Pradesh government to show if any rehabilitation or resettlement has been done on the ground for the Maheshwar oustees," Agarwal said.

He alleged that the state government had not submitted any plan for rehabilitation even five months after suspension of construction work on the Maheshwar project in Khargone district of the state. The centre had ordered stoppage of work on Maheswar dam citing non-compliance of environmental norms.

The NBA leader said that by not carrying out rehabilitation and resettlement, the state government had breached the conditions of the statutorily binding environmental clearance.

"It is clear from the experience of the last five months that the state government and private promoters has no intention of resettling and rehabilitating the oustees, or complying with the condition of the clearance," he said.

The Maheshwar dam is part of the Narmada Valley Development Project that entails the construction of 30 large and 135 medium-sized dams in the Narmada Valley.