NEW DELHI: The Communist Party of India (Marxist) on Tuesday urged the Centre to reverse the "highly irregular" decision of the Narmada Control Authority to raise the height of the Sardar Sarovar dam in violation of the Supreme Court's March 2005 decision.

"The Supreme Court had expressly withheld permission to raise the height of the dam unless rehabilitation measures for those affected, mainly tribal families, were put in place," the party said in a press statement.

It said the NCA permitted raising the height of the dam without a single field visit or any other direct information about the status of the rehabilitation measures of those affected.

"In fact thousands of displaced families are yet to be rehabilitated. In such a situation, the decision to raise the height of the dam will further displace thousands of families in Madhya Pradesh. It is essential to suspend the decision to raise the height of the dam and to ensure full rehabilitation of the displaced families before any such measure."

Separately, in a letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, the National Federation of Indian Women on Tuesday sought a "review" of the Narmada dam project with regard to resettlement and rehabilitation of the displaced people.

"Rehabilitation is a justified demand and the United Progressive Alliance Government must recognise its importance." The National Executive of the Federation recently met here to protest the "callous indifference" to the livelihoods of thousands of people who were displaced and sought the Prime Minister's intervention. "It is disappointing that the UPA Government has deviated from its commitment to follow people-oriented policies and is proving no better than the previous BJP-led NDA that the people had voted out," it said in the letter.

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