In short, they find themselves with no ground for their progressive farming efforts once the land is submerged by the impounding of the river. Then there is no telling what happens to landless labourers like Kachru who face threat of being totally uprooted, and sooner than they think.

Uncertainty looms large over farmers and the landless in 100 villages along the river in Nagpur and Bhandara districts. They recounted their tale of woes to a team of journalists visiting the over half-a-dozen villages living under the threat of submergence.

They express the fear that unless the bureaucracy woke up early and took some urgent steps, there was every danger that the turbulent Wainganga waters flooding some of these villages in monsoon when the river will be in spate.

And, the villagers aregroping in the dark not because they are illiterate or they are ignorant of the gravity of the problem -- talking to many of villagers, it is clear that they have fully understood the complexities involved in rehabilitation of the projected affected persons.

What they fail to understand is why the bureaucracy remains insensitive to their sufferings and what prevents them from preparing a comprehensive package for them.

The villagers have a point when they say that ten years since the project was launched was enough time for the babus to draw out a plan for acquisition of land in villages facing immediate threat of submergence, work out a compensation package to the satisfaction of villagers, and at the same time, prepare a plan for rehabilitation of the projected-affected persons.

Baldev Patil Varade of Sawargaon village was agitated that the Revenue officials calculations are far from realities. They allegedly told him that he can continue to cultivate his farm even after completion of the projectbecause the dam waters would only submerge his house, for which he would be paid compensation. Ridiculous, exclaims Patil, pointing out that his house is on the fringe of his farm. ``If the house is going to be submerged then the farm will also be definitely affected badly.''

Another farmer Martandrao Ghodeswar fears for his orchard which he has seen to fruition with hard-earned assistance from a Government-sponsored horticulture promotion scheme.

A bumpy ride down the dusty road connecting interior villages to the tehsil towns of Bhiwapur and Kuhi gives a fair idea of what lies ahead for the poor villagers. The grim reality is that the dam work has taken some momentum after funds were made available through placement bonds.

But the rehabilitation package is yet to be worked out. Some farmers have received notices `informing' them that their villages would be submerged in Gosikhurd project. Issuing notices inviting attention of farmers is just the beginning of a long-drawn process of acquisition of landand property.

Farmers in Nagtaroli, Bori, Gadeghat, Saleghat, Saleshahri, Kini, Mokhabardi and Jeevanapur have little expectation from the Government agencies doing the acquisition work.

They can only pray that the work will be completed before their village is inundated.

The farmers are demanding a compensation package at the rates ranging between Rs 50,000 to Rs 1 lakh per acre in addition to Government moves to acquire land for resettlement. A section of farmers are demanding that they be given land in the Gosikhurd project command area as compensation -- different opinions but each calling for a comprehensive package and, more importantly, `quick implementation, before the waters are up to the noses, please?