Patel told reporters that around ten non-government organisatons (NGOs) were considering to start pro-Narmada agitations to create public awareness about the importance of saving the project and hurdles being created by anti-dam activists led by Medha Patkar resulting in daily loss of Rs 6 crore on various overheads.

``The overheads have to be met or else it will send wrong signals to the opponents that the State had given up its stake,'' she said.

NGOs like Bharat Ekta Andolan, Narmada Abhiyan and Sardar Foundation among others would work out a detailed programme to launch a counter movement against the anti-Narmada stand by certain vested interest, she said, adding that the people of the state should jointly initiate a stir to protect the Narmada project.

The NGOs would consider taking out a rally from Ahmedabad to Kevadia Colony either in December or January next to protest and highlight the issue which was still going on in the Supreme Court, she said.

She said the NGOs would be mobilised to highlight the issue of the Narmada dam, which was pending in the Supreme Court. The government was not taking any initiative, she said.

So now NGOs must take the initiative, she said. ``They must become aggressive, and not bother about the consequences''.

She said the people of the state should now feel that there was no need to inflict damage to any one else's interests, but at the same time, they should protect their own rights and interests. ``This is what we will be doing if we press for implementation of this project,'' she said.

She also held equally responsible for the Narmada tangle the indifferent, if not hostile, attitude of the centre towards the project despite the fact that same party was ruling in the State as well as at the Centre. The state government should take up the issue of rehabilitation seriously and start the rehabilitation programme on war footing to tell the Court about the settlement of the Project Affected Persons (PAPS) from Madhya Pradesh in Gujarat, Patel said.

She said the PAPS should be convinced that they had been properly rehabilitated in the state. This, according to her, was necessary if the allegations by anti-Narmada activists were to be countered effectively. In fact, she said, Gujarat had not made any preparations to project facts to the people of the country and the world about the reality of the Narmada dam project.

She claimed that even in the name of the environment, 65 such projects were stalled in the country, which resulted in the hampering the development of the country. She also flayed foreign multinationals for extending tacit support to the anti-Narmada activists for serving their own vested interests. Also, they do not want India to become powerful and independent, she said. Such vested interests are backing anti-dam people financially and otherwise, she alleged.

In this backdrop, it was high time the people mounted pressure on the central government to shed its indifference to and disinterest in the project, she said. There should also be a stronger representation in the Supreme Court to clear the matter pending for a quite long time even though it was a public importance issue, Patel said.

Patel said if the rehabilitation work could have been constantly continued the Court could have also taken up the review of the project and would have given permission to continue the dam work. ``We have been lagging behind making submission in details as it was being done by Medha Patkar and others in the court,'' she said.