The Madhya Pradesh High Court on Friday issued a contempt notice to Dr. Rajesh Rajora, Additional Chief Secretary of the state and Vice Chairman of the Narmada Valley Development Authority (NVDA), in connection with alleged non-compliance of a court order directing timely compensation to those affected by the Omkareshwar dam project.
Justice D.D. Bansal passed the order while hearing a contempt petition filed by the Narmada Bachao Andolan (NBA), which has long been advocating for the rights of displaced families in the Narmada Valley region.
According to the NBA, the state government had announced a special rehabilitation package on June 7, 2023, promising a compensation of ₹2.5 lakh for landless farmers and their children displaced by the dam. However, the petition alleges that despite these announcements and a court directive issued on July 10, 2023, affected persons have not received the promised compensation.
The court had earlier disposed of the NBA’s original petition with a direction to Dr. Rajora to consider the matter “as expeditiously as possible.” The current contempt plea accuses the authorities of failing to implement that directive, prompting judicial intervention.
The court has now sought a formal response from Dr. Rajora regarding the delay in executing the compensation plan. The matter is likely to be taken up further after the submission of his reply.
