E/CN.4/2003/90 page 18 dam’s height have destroyed the crops and homes of SSP-affected villages in Nandurbar District (Maharashtra) and Jhabua District (Madhya Pradesh), rendering the villagers homeless. These people now face a severe food and drinking-water shortage.” It also reports that the Maharashtra government indicates an increase in the number of project-affected persons at the 95 m level, and admits that the government does not have enough land for rehabilitation of the affected persons.65 52. The Sardar Sarovar dam and other similar projects on the Narmada River raise a number of complex issues. Originally, the interests and aspirations of the affected Adivasi population were not considered in the project design and implementation. As a result of continued lobbying by tribal and human rights organizations, the Government of India now recognizes that the issues raised by the affected communities must be taken into account. Yet the implementation of measures intended to mitigate the negative effects and increase the benefits of the project for the Adivasi population has lagged behind and is considered insufficient by the people involved. The Special Rapporteur recommends that the human rights of the Adivasis be included as a foremost priority in the implementation of this development project and others of its kind. Only with the full and informed consent of the tribal people concerned will truly human rights-centred development, as recommended by the General Assembly, become possible. An immediate step would be to halt any further rise in the reservoir’s water level until the outstanding issues of rehabilitation and resettlement are fully solved to the satisfaction of the affected population, through constructive dialogue and negotiation between the parties. India could also signal its commitment to the human rights of its Adivasi population by ratifying ILO Convention No. 169 and approving the draft United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. Alternative ways of involving the Adivasis in the project should also be considered. It has been suggested that they should be considered as partners in the project, with their investment being their natural resources. Adivasis qua investors would be entitled to share in the project’s benefits.66 Philippines 53. The San Roque Multipurpose Project in the Philippine Cordillera region involves the construction of a large dam on the Agno River which will be used primarily for power generation and secondarily for irrigation and flood-control. Construction of the dam and power plant were completed in July 2002 and the water began to rise in August; operation of the power plant was scheduled to begin in January 2003. The construction site, in the municipality of San Manuel, province of Pangasinan, covers about 34 square kilometres, but the irrigation and flood control components will extend over a much wider area, involving around 30 municipalities in three provinces. The dam reservoir is expected to submerge eight small upland villages that are home to indigenous people. 54. Many other villages are bound to be affected by sediment build-up and upstream flooding as the reservoir becomes silted. To mitigate the potentially negative impact of these processes, the implementation of a Lower Agno Watershed Management Plan is under way. The San Roque project is being implemented by the San Roque Power Corporation with credit financing from the Japan Bank for International Cooperation. Several Philippine government agencies are actively involved in the project’s implementation, particularly the watershed