Bawa Maharia of Jalsindhi village in Badwani district says he will not leave his village for money even if his home is submerged. Bawa and his father own 15 acres of agricultural land, which will be submerged even at the dam height of 80.3 metres. ``We will accept only land for land and no money under any circumstances,'' he says with determination.

Maharia has the law on his side. The Narmada Water Disputes Tribunal (NWDT) says in its final order that every displaced family ``shall be entitled to and be allotted irrigable land to the extent of land acquired from it subject to the prescribed ceiling in the state concerned and a minimum of 2 hectares (5 acres) per family, the irrigation facilities being provided by the state in whose territory the allotted land issituated.''

The tribunal further says: ``Gujarat shall acquire and make available a year in advance of the submergence, before each successive stage, irrigable land and house sites for rehabilitation of the oustee families from Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra who are willing to migrate to Gujarat.''

However, a committee constituted by the Madhya Pradesh Assembly found that the affected families, started returning to MP after finding conditions in Gujarat inhospitable.

The plight of the oustee families had formed the basis of the Narmada Bachao Andolan (NBA) petition on which the Supreme Court had stayed further construction of the Sardar Sarovar Dam four years ago. The apex court's recent order has surprised the PAF as nothing has been done regarding rehabilitation plans.

Bahaduria of Anjanwada village in Jhabua district says all 69 households in his village will be affected after the height is raised to 85 metres. But not a single family is willing to move to Gujarat under the present circumstances,he adds.

While permitting the height to be raised to 85 metres, the Supreme Court also constituted a committee under the chairmanship of justice (retired) P D Desai to study the conditions of the oustees who had resettled in Gujarat. The Desai Committee which was also asked to study the relief and rehabilitation scenario if the height was raised to 90 metres, will submit its report to the Supreme Court by April 9.

NBA activist Aloke Agarwal, who escorted Bawa Maharia, Bahaduria and other tribals of the area to meet mediapersons here, wondered why the Supreme Court did not hold back its order over raising the height till after receiving the Desai Committee's report.

Representatives of the affected families have decided to assemble under the aegis of the NBA at Alirajpur in Jhabua district in March 16 to chalk out their next course of action in the light of the February 18 order.