Compared to project-affected oustees elsewhere in the country, villagers here are relatively better off. Land at alternative sites in the vicinity, a handsome cash compensation and employment prospects thanks to increased development in the area will ensure that the evacuees are not tossed on to the streets.

Moreover, a Karnataka court order forbidding commencement of work on the project till the villagers are satisfied with their rehabilitation ensures that neither the Central nor the state government overlook the project's social costs.

However, an inept bureaucracy combined with rivalry between the Opposition Congress and the BJP-Lok Shakti alliance in North Karnataka has resulted in fresh demands being thrown up even as the government moves to concede existing ones. Union Defence Minister George Fernandes recently announced an enhanced compensation and rehabilitation package, only to find his offer ridiculed by Congress politicians. ``Let the government keep aside just one per cent of the project cost for compensation,'' said former legislator and minister Prabhalkar Rane in a press statement recently. An obvious attempt at misinformation as the project is only worth a fraction of the Rs 1,300 crore claimed by Rane. As things stand, the government has earmarked more than Rs 110 crore for rehabilitation and compensation.

On the other hand, leaders with leanings towards Union Commerce Minister Ramakrishna Hegde's Lok Shakti are resorting to gentle persuasion to make the government yield. P M Tandel, who heads the Seabird Nirashri Tara Vedike, insists that his organisation will lobby with elected leaders to solve the evacuees' problems.

Incidentally, a short-sighted bureaucracy is only fuelling discontent among the project-affected persons. For one, its discriminatory compensation package smacks of bias against women. While every male aged above 18 is entitled to compensation, only women above the age of 35 are eligible. ``A woman will get married and go elsewhere, but a man will need the money to support his family,'' reasons Jithendra Nayak, special deputy commissioner in charge of land acquisition. Organisations representing the evacuees are now demanding that women be treated on par with men for the purpose of awarding compensation.

In all, the project requires 8,072 acres spread over 13 villages covering 20 km along the coastline. Of this, the state government has handed over more than 7,500 acres to the Navy on paper. This includes 1,940 acres of private land, many of whose owners have refused to move out to alternative sites allotted by the government. Two resettlement colonies in Mudgari and Nattikeri areas of Karwar earmarked for the oustees are unoccupied so far though title deeds have long been issued to more than 500 families. ``There are no minimum civic amenities in these colonies like schools, shops, primary health centres,'' says Sadanand Padti, organising secretary of the Seabird Project Evacuees Association headed by Prabhakar Rane.

Evacuees under the leadership of both Rane and Tandel are demanding Rs 1.25 lakh as compensation for every adult in lieu of land. This follows a similar amount given to persons evacuated for the Mangalore Refineries Project. The government is however prepared to concede only Rs 70,000 per family.

Thanks to support from political parties, the original owners of the land handed over to the Navy continue to stay put in their village homes. The district administration is now wondering how it will clear the area to allow the Navy's to commence work by October/November. Residents of the three villages comprising the core area have asked the government to give them time till the middle of next year, when their school-going children have their summer vacations. However, state government officials say the Navy is not prepared to wait that long.

A 12-year-long delay in getting Project Seabird off the ground has also pushed up rehabilitation costs. While the number of project-displaced families has nearly doubled from 4,444, land costs too have risen from Rs 15,000-28,000 per acre to three times as much.