N-Plant is key issue in and around Chutka in Madhya Pradesh

Chutka village in Mandla district is 60 kilometres from Jabalpur via a national highway, but the bumpy ride through the tribal-dominated area takes a good two and a half hours. Bijli-sadak-paani (powerroads-water) are not election issues here, though. Instead, a planned nuclear plant has united tribals across 38 villages who have now called for an election boycott.
Posters declaring ‘Vote usi ko denge jo Chutka pariyojana ko radd karey (We will vote for whoever scraps the Chutka project)’ have come up on trees and on fronts of houses. The epicentre of this protest of tribals is a cluster of four villages – Chutka, Konta, Tatighat and Manegaon. The villages are settled near the banks of river Narmada along a scenic winding road through the mountains. But for villagers, the threat of displacement looms large.

“This is not the first time that we are facing displacement because of a project,” said Dadu Lal Kudape of Chutka Sangharsh Samiti, an organised group protesting the project. Kudape and his fellow villagers were affected by Bargi dam on Narmada which had submerged 162 villages. “Even then we had got meagre compensation. Now also, we will be forced to leave our cultivable fertile land and move out. A second time,” he said.

The villagers are worried that they will not get adequate compensation. They have been promised Rs 3.83 lakh per hectare for their land but they find fertile land available in their district nearby for a whopping Rs 20 lakh per hectare. “Have you seen the dwelling units they are constructing for us? They are small two-room tenements,” said Kudape.

With the threat of eviction looming large, villagers have stopped investing in their land.

The plant was planned after the Congress-led UPA government signed the India-US civil nuclear deal. On the other hand, the BJP has been supporting the initiative as it means more power production and revenue for the state.