India 'must resettle dam victims'

NEW DELHI - The World Bank may withdraw funding for India's pounds 750m Narmada dam unless New Delhi can draft a resettlement plan within the next six months for more than 250,000 people affected by the controversial project, writes Tim McGirk.

The World Bank, which is considering a pounds 280m loan for the dam, also demanded yesterday that India tighten up environmental standards on the project, which has a vast network of canals and hydroelectric plants. Environmentalists and some Hindu religious figures claim that damming the sacred Narmada River could result in an ecological disaster. The World Bank has already sunk pounds 300m into the project, which spans the three states of Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat and Maharashtra.