NEW DELHI: In case of a tie, any matter under consideration by the Review Committee of the Narmada Control Authority (RCNCA) will be referred to the Prime Minister, who is empowered to take a final decision. The Prime Minister's decision will be final and binding, the Supreme Court held in its October 18, 2000 order.

With three of the committee member States — Gujarat, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh — under BJP rule, it is feared there may not be a consensus on a review of the NCA's decision to raise the height of the Narmada dam. Gujarat has already raised the height by two metres and construction is on.

Union Minister Saifuddin Soz of the Congress, who is the chairman of the committee, the Congress-ruled Maharashtra and Union Environment and Forests Minister A. Raja (of the DMK, which is a constituent of the United Progressive Alliance) are expected to align on the other side.

As every State and every Minister are expected to vote along party lines, no consensus is likely to emerge at the April 15 RCNCA meeting and the matter will have to be referred to the Prime Minister, say highly placed sources.

The RCNCA is the highest decision-making body on the Sardar Sarovar Project that runs through the riparian States of Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Rajasthan.

The Narmada Water Disputes Tribunal Award of December 1979 says that the RCNCA may "suo motu or on application by any party State or the Secretary to the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests review any decision of the NCA."

It states that in "urgent cases, the chairman of the review committee may, on the application of the Government of any party State or the Secretary to the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests, grant a stay on any order of the Authority, pending a final decision or review."

Further, the Supreme Court, in its October 18, 2000 order, said if for any reason, serious differences over the implementation of the award arose and the issue could not be resolved on the review committee, the panel might refer the matter to the Prime Minister, whose decision, "in respect thereof, shall be final and binding on all concerned." The NCA decided on March 8 to allow Gujarat to raise the dam height from 110.64 to 121.92 metres. But the Narmada Bachao Andolan alleged that nearly 35,000 families were yet to be rehabilitated between the heights of 110.64 and 121.92 metres.

Left stand

On Wednesday, Communist Party of India (Marxist) Polit Bureau member Brinda Karat and Communist Party of India leader A.B. Bardhan met the Prime Minister soon after a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Political Affairs. The Left said a review of the decision to raise the dam height would be a "half-hearted" measure unless the Government ensured that the Supreme Court judgment on resettlement and rehabilitation was implemented in full.

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