BOOKER PRIZE WINNER ARUNDHATI ROY IS WELCOMED IN PARTHAD, 1999-08-01 (photo)

Booker prize winner Arundhati Roy (L) is welcomed July 31 by a woman in the remote village of Parthrad which is slated to be submerged by the river Narmada. Roy is participating in a rally organised by environmentalists opposing the building of 3000 dams over the 1300 km long Narmada river. The project, promoted by four state governments, is the biggest in India and has been dogged by controversy for the last 14 years after environmentalists opposed its impact over the environment as well as the tribes who will be displaced by the project. SK/PB/CLH/