On February 2, a dramatic midnight announcement of capitulation by the state government of Madhya Pradesh, India ended the protest occupation of the Maheshwar dam site. The site of the enormous hydropower project had been occupied by thousands of demonstrators since January 11, and an indefinite fast had started on January 26 by area residents worried that their land and homes would be submerged and that environmental impacts on the region would be severe and irreversible.

The Maheshwar dam would have been part of the Narmada Valley Development Project, which proposes 30 large, 135 medium-sized and 3,000 small dams in the valley. The Maheshwar dam alone would submerge very fertile tracts of cotton, chili and wheat as well as 61 villages with a combined population of 100,000. Though the environmental implications were far reaching and fearsome, the environmental impact studies and mitigation plans were confidential and not publicly available. In fact, there was no public process for input on the project whatsoever.

During the last year, the peoples' movement Narmada Bachao Andolan (Save Narmada Movement) has been organizing the affected villagers. On October 3, 1997, the people staged a massive rally of about 10,000 calling for a work stoppage and review of the project in consultation with the people. Instead, the company sped up work. In response the people began their occupation of the work site. The police sealed roads to try and prevent the occupation, but the villagers reached the site by darting from their villages in the middle of the night, using little-known pathways.

On the evening of January 30, even as the news spread in the submergence area that the government had almost accepted the demands, thousands of people poured into the occupation site. As the night wore on, the crowd swelled from 3,000 to more than 8,000. At midnight, the Deputy Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh came to the dam site and made the official announcement, accompanied by written government orders.

The government accepted all of the protesters' demands, ordering the stoppage of work and a total review of the project. The Energy Department was also ordered to stop work on the project's massive land acquisition. The task force set up to review the dam consists of government agents, independent experts and representatives of the Narmada Bachao Andolan. One such representative, Ms. Medha Patkar, said the victory would send a strong message "to Indian and foreign corporations that privatization will not be accepted on their terms. The people will decide how development proceeds in the Narmada Valley."