from THE HINDU
http://www.hindu.com/2007/08/26/stories/2007082657440400.htm
Staff Reporter
“The exercise was carried out at night while the Satyagrahis were sleeping in the area”
NEW DELHI: Hours after Yamuna Satyagraha activists announced that they will intensify their agitation to save the floodplains, the administration raised barricades near the Commonwealth Games Village site to prevent them from gathering there.
On Friday, the activists had announced that they would tie rakhis to the trees at the Games Village site and stop the Delhi Government and Centre from undertaking construction on the flood plains, which is an important ground water recharge area.
“The Government has barricaded the whole place. The exercise was carried out at night while the Satyagrahis were still at the site. There was no intimation from the Government and neither was any notice served,” said Diwan Singh of the Yamuna Satyagraha, a conglomeration of the Yamuna Jiye Abhiyan, URJA, Natural Heritage First and several other NGOs.
“Dr. Vinod Kumar Mishra and Sunil Prabhaker were at the site when the barricading was carried out. Neither the workers, nor anyone from the Government informed them about it. They finished the barricading while the protestors of Jal Biradari were sleeping inside,” he claimed.
The ‘satyagrahis’, who had been maintaining a 24-hour vigil at the site, were confined for more than 12 hours. “On Saturday morning when other volunteers tried to send food for them, the guards posted by the Delhi Development Authority stopped them. Our volunteers were allowed to go in after a lot of persuasion,” Mr. Singh said.
“Such steps by the Government are undemocratic. They show the frustration of the Government because the movement is gaining ground with each passing day,” members of the Yamuna Satyagraha coordination committee said.
In a statement issued here, the members said: “This [barricading] is illegal confinement -- tantamount to abduction. The Satyagraha Coordination Committee has decided to continue the Satyagraha at the same place in a completely non-violent and conflict-free manner.”
