Submergence and Displacement The NBA believe that over one million people will lose land or be otherwise severely affected by the various components of the project. As comprehensive surveys have not been completed by the dam authorities the following figures are all estimates. Reservoir: Around 91,000 acres (37,000 ha) in Gujarat , Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh (MP) will be flooded by the 133 mile (213 km) long reservoir. About 28,660 acres (11,600 ha) of this land is officially classified as 'forest land' although the actual amount of tree cover on forest land varies greatly. Official estimates of the number of families to be displaced (called Project Affected Persons or PAPs - a 'PAP' is a family unit rather than a person) have increased around six- fold since 1979. The latest official estimates from the three states add up to 41,500 PAPs, or 207,500 people, around 80% of them in Madhya Pradesh. Almost all the PAPs in Gujarat and Maharashtra and perhaps half of those in MP are adivasis, or tribal people, belonging to a number of different groups collectively referred to as Bhils. The adivasis to be displaced by the reservoir live mainly in 14 villages in Gujarat , 33 in Maharashtra and around 53 in MP. The adivasi areas are mostly remote and hilly with few social services. The adivasis are largely self-sufficient, growing their own food and collecting fuel, building materials, fodder, fruits, and other resources from the forests and common lands around their villages, as well as relying on water and fish from the river. The non-tribal PAPs in MP live in around 140 villages in the furthest upstream part of the submergence zone, the rich agricultural plain known as the Nimad. There are also some adivasis living in this area. Canals: Over 200,000 acres (80,000 ha) of land in Gujarat will be lost to the canal network if it is ever completed. Estimates for the number of landholders to be affected by the canals range from 140,000 to 222,800. The World Bank estimated in 1992 that 24,000 of these landholders would lose over a quarter of their land (the nature of land records in Gujarat means that each 'landholder' in fact represents 3-4 families). An estimated 10% of the Canal Affected Families (CAFs) are adivasis. The CAFs are not recognized as 'Project Affected' and are not eligible for the same compensation package as the reservoir PAPs. Families who have already lost land to canals have received cash compensation far below current land prices. Sanctuary and National Parks: Over 42,000 adivasis would be displaced by the Shoolpaneshwar Wildlife Sanctuary in Gujarat planned to compensate for the forests and wildlife lost to the reservoir. There are no arrangements to resettle or compensate these people. Two National Parks which the central Ministry for Environment has planned for Madhya Pradesh would displace thousands more people. Downstream Displacement: The dam is planned eventually to store and divert all of the water in the Narmada , except during the wettest monsoons. This will dry up the river downstream destroying the livelihood of at least 10,000 fishworker families. It will also severely affect the water supply to over 700,000 people in 210 villages and at least five towns. Afforestation: Afforestation schemes supposed to compensate for the trees lost to the reservoir are taking over large amounts of adivasi land. Although the adivasis have been cultivating this land for generations they often have no legal rights to it and therefore receive no compensation for land lost to tree plantations. Secondary Displacement: Large numbers of people are dependent on the forest and agricultural land being taken over for resettlement sites, either for resources such as fuelwood and fodder or for employment. The Ministry of Environment and Forests recognizes that between 10-15,000 tribals depend on the 3,707 acres (1,500 ha) of forest land released for resettlement of Maharashtra PAPs by MoEF in February 1994. No measures have been taken to compensate these people. An adivasi woman in a group protesting against the taking over of forest land for resettlement in Maharashtra was shot dead by police in July 1992. Backwater Effect: The larger sediments in the water entering a reservoir are deposited at its upper end forming a delta and steadily raising the level of the upper reaches of the reservoir. A large area of farmland, many villages and even whole towns in the Nimad could be affected by flooding due to this backwater effect, yet no proper study of this has been done. Kevadia Colony: Work on the infrastructure at Kevadia began in 1961 and involved the acquisition of land from six adivasi villages. Around 950 families were displaced. These people have received little or no compensation. Rock-Filled Dykes: A number of holding ponds between the reservoir and the main canal have been impounded by rock-filled dykes, displacing around 900 families from five adivasi villages in Gujarat between 1983 and 1991. Marooned Land: The rugged nature of the adivasi areas means that many families will find their houses and lands isolated on small islands or inaccessible peninsulas. As no proper land surveys have been done in Madhya Pradesh, the authorities do not know how many people will be affected in this way. Resettlement conditions The resettlement package differs between the three states. PAPs from Gujarat, or those from Maharashtra and MP willing to move to Gujarat, are eligible for a minimum of two hectares (five acres) of irrigable land in the command area of the project as well as house sites and some cash compensation. Major sons (those over 18) and landless families (many of the tribal families cultivate land to which they have no legal title) are also eligible for two hectares of land under Gujarat 's policy. 'Landless' oustees and major sons settling in Maharashtra receive only one hectare; those in MP are not eligible for any land. The authorities claim that around 7000 PAPs have been resettled in Gujarat and Maharashtra . No oustees have been resettled in MP. Those who have been resettled face a multitude of hardships and many have returned to their original villages. The stress and impoverishment caused by resettlement has increased death rates among the oustees, especially of children. The problems, which have been extensively noted by the official resettlement monitoring agencies and the World Bank's Independent Review include: lack of grazing lands, firewood, drinking water, and cremation facilities; poor quality, flood-prone cropland, land which is not irrigable and plots which are less than the two hectares promised (the supposed two hectare minimum has in practice turned into a two hectare maximum); disputes over ownership of resettlement plots and conflicts with host communities; villages, hamlets and even families split up among many different resettlement sites. GoG has acquired under 14,000 hectares of land for the PAPs who have been resettled in the state, spread over approximately 400 different resettlement sites. There are no plans available describing where land will be found for the remaining 13,000 oustees expected to move to the state. The acquisition of such large areas of land combined with land speculation due to SSP has greatly increased land prices in the command area, inflating the cost to the government of acquiring land, and encouraging the government to buy land of increasingly inferior quality. GoMP admits that it is unable to acquire any agricultural land for resettlement.