Medha Patkar breaks 17-day fast

Bhopal: Seventeen days after she launched a hunger strike demanding proper rehabilitation of the people affected by the Sardar Sarovar project, social activist Medha Patkar, currently in jail in Madhya Pradesh’s Dhar district, ended her fast on Saturday.

Activists of Narmada Bachao Andolan (NBA) spearheading the movement to highlight the plight of the families facing displacement by the project offered her lemon water to break her fast.

“Her health condition was deteriorating. Hence, we appealed to her to end her fast. She heeded to our pleas,” a NBA volunteer said.

Ms Patkar, who launched an indefinite fast on July 27, was on August 7 evicted from her protest site at Chikhalda by police who admitted her to a Indore hospital. She was discharged on August 9.

She was, however, arrested the same day as she returned to the protest site to continue her agitation and later sent to jail.