Ms.  Nandini Oza, researcher, writer, chronicler and archivist gave a talk on Oral Histories of the Narmada Bachao Andolan: A dive into those displaced by megaprojects at the Human Sciences Research Group (HSRG)’s Weekly Talk Series on on 16 August.

The Narmada Bachao Andolan (NBA) against the Sardar Sarovar Project (SSP), a mega dam on the river Narmada, is considered to be one of the important people’s movements in India. Voices from mass resistance movements like the NBA do not find reference in mainstream media or in the dominant development discourse of a nation as these narratives are positioned against the State and other powerful forces that present these projects as steps towards the nation’s development. Nandini’s work is focused on the voice of people from marginalised sections of the society form the core of such struggles, as oral histories of the people could be one of the mediums to help correct this imbalance to an extent. This session highlighted the work of the Oral Histories of the Narmada Bachao Andolan (NBA) and its scope to make the voices of those displaced by mega projects, the development refugees heard.

During the talk Nandini shared the team’s experiences and learnings of the process of documenting and disseminating oral histories of the Narmada Struggle in a digital world and how they considered various different approaches to the movement, and it focus in order to bring it to the attention of more people. Apart from the displacement of a huge population of people that haven’t been properly placed in other areas yet, the environmental, cultural and religious losses from the project have also been quite paramount.

An interesting turn of events at the talk was the presence of a person in the audience who was involved in the development of the Sardar Sarovar Project. The question-and-answer session that followed was, needless to say, one of a kind.

August 2023