At an all-party meeting called by the Chief Minister on Tuesday to discuss various aspects of the implementation of the project, Congress leader and former Sardar Sarovar Narmada Nigam chairman Sanat Mehta wondered how the Government was not aware of the World Commission on Dams (WCD) holding a hearing on large dams in Sri Lanka this January.

Mehta told the meeting that he and a few other people from the State had received a letter from the WCD inviting him as an observer to the hearing.

He said he was yet to make up his mind on attending, and asked the Government to make its stand clear. Mehta criticised the Government for not effectively countering the anti-dam propaganda being unleashed by Narmada Bachao Andolan, and complained that non-governmental organisations werenot involved in the rehabilitation and resettlement of SSP oustees.

Leader of the Opposition Amarsinh Chaudhary said people believed that the delay would harm the State and cause tremendous price escalation. He said a pro-dam rally planned by Rajya Sabha member Urmilaben Patel at Kevadia on December 20 would have a positive impact on the verdict to be delivered by the Apex Court.

RJP leaders Madhusudan Mistry and Vishnu Pandya reminded the Bharatiya Janata Party of its pre-election promise that if voted to power in the State and at the Centre, the party would declare the SSP a ``national project''. The promise is yet to be fulfilled, they said.

They urged the Government to provide land to the oustees so that the long-pending issue of rehabilitation could be resolved without delay.

They said crores of rupees due from the Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra Governments had not been paid yet, and pointed out that the Chief Minister had failed to get back the money despite the fact that the BJP wasin power in the State and at the Centre.

Narmada Development Minister Jainarain Vyas assured the meeting that he would contact Union Finance Secretary and others in this regard.

He said as the issue was pending in the Supreme Court, the Government had no option but to request the Centre to take steps to get the money back.

The RJP leaders suggested that the government publish at international fora the measures it had been taking to counter the anti-Narmada campaign.

Vyas, however, told them that though the SSP was not given the status of a national project, the benefits it was accorded by the Centre were reserved for national projects. He outlined the progress on the work and said about Rs 600 crore had been spent till now on Narmada canals and infrastructure.

The Chief Minister appreciated the co-operation extended to the Government by political parties and NGOs for the early implementation of the project. He said the Government had presented the case at the Apex Court strongly.