September 28, 1985 From the Dam to the Ghettos The Victims of the Rihand Dam Satyajit Kumar Singh SINGRAULI, situated in eastern Uttar Pradesh (Mirzapur district) and northern Madhya Pradesh (Sidhi district), covers a project area which is more than 1,800 sq km. It is very rich in coal deposits, having the second largest coal seam in the world, if not the largest. The Kaimur hills, an extension of the Vindhya range laps the whole region with thick forests bearing sal, bamboo, khair and salal trees among many more species. It was a very backward area in the sense that it was primarily an agricultural economy, till the early sixties not having any electricity, very few roads, just one rail line and nearly no forms of modern communication.
