100 Years On, Mulshi Dam Affected, Bereft Of Basic Rights

The Mulshi dam satyagraha may have ended over a century ago, but it lives on in the repercussions for Mulshi taluka's 52 villages that were sacrificed to it.

- Sabah Virani

MUMBAI: A book of 70 essays commemorating the past and present struggle through essays, titled 'Sahyadri Che Ashru', was released early this year at the All Maharashtra Mulshi Parishad, ending in the poem 'Thamb' with the lines: "The thirsty waters, the weary paths / Once again, birds longing for home shall revive the ghats!"

"It is a matter of deep pain that the 52 villages that were the collateral damage for the Mulshi dam to supply power to Mumbai still have not received their basic land rights," said editor Anil Pawar. "They have no future left."

India's first anti-dam movement, the satyagraha began on April 16, 1921. A few years prior, in 1917, Tata Power had begun acquiring the land where the Mula and Nila rivers meet for the dam which would submerge the 52 villages. Pune-based journalist Vinayak Bhuskute spearheaded the movement.