Medha Patkar is a social activist from India who founded the Narmada Bachao Andolan movement in 1986 to protest the Sardar Sarovar Dam project on the Narmada River. The dam project would displace hundreds of thousands of people and negatively impact the environment and livelihoods of local residents. Patkar's movement used non-violent protests and hunger strikes to raise awareness and successfully pressure the World Bank to withdraw funding from the project due to unaddressed social and environmental concerns. Her activism brought international attention to the issue and has opposed other large dam projects in India that negatively impact local communities.