India’s highest court gave its approval yesterday for a large hydroelectric dam on the Narmada river, a project that had been stalled for six years because of a lawsuit filed by environmentalists. The government said that construction will resume immediately on the Sardar Sarovar dam, part of a massive hydroelectric project that will build some 3,200 small, medium-sized, and large dams on the 800-mile Narmada river and its tributaries. Environmentalists and others have protested vehemently against the Sardar Sarovar, saying that it would displace tens of thousands of people, mainly tribal members and those of the lowest caste, without adequate plans for resettling them. Anti-dam activists vowed to continue their fight.
