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Sardar Sarovar Dam-An overview of the ‘engineering miracle’

Indian Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi inaugurated the highest dam ever built in India – the Sardar Sarovar Dam at Kevadia, Gujarat. The Sardar Sarovar Dam is the second largest in the world in terms of its volume and sheer size. It comes second to the Grand Coulee Dam in the United States, which is considered the largest judging by its volume.

It is a part of the Narmada Valley Project, a large hydraulic engineering project involving the construction of a series of large irrigation and hydroelectric multi-purpose dams on the Narmada River.

The Sardar Sarovar Dam has two powerhouses – river bed powerhouse and canal head powerhouse. The two powerhouses have the installed capacity of 1,200 MW and 250 MW respectively. So far, it has produced 4,141 crore units of electricity.

A short history:

The foundation stone of the Sardar Sarovar Dam was laid out by Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru on April 5th, 1961.  The project took form in 1979 as part of a development scheme to increase irrigation and produce hydroelectricity.

A project report was prepared after carrying out a study on the usage of the Narmada river water that flowed through the states of Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat and into the Arabian Sea. It led to a huge dispute over the means of distributing the Narmada water among the three states- Gujarat, Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh.

Since there was no solution to be found, a Narmada Water Dispute Tribunal (NWDT) was created in 1969 to decide the future of the project.

After extensive research, the NWDT gave its verdict in 1979. From the 35 billion cubic metres of water available for consumption from the dam, Madhya Pradesh would receive 65 percent, Gujarat 32 percent and Rajasthan and Maharashtra would be eligible for the remaining 3 percent. The project was finally approved by the Planning Commission in the year 1988.

While in its planning phase, it caught the attention of various social activists and that is when the problem started. However, in the year 2000, The Supreme Court took its final call and allowed the construction. The height of the dam was raised every five years and reached 138.68 metres finally.

Controversies and problems:

 There were many reasons that this project was delayed for about six decades.

  • A lot of social activists, environmentalists and ecologists were against this project as it did not meet the required environmental and social conditions stated by the Ministry of Environment and Forests.
  • Medha Patkar was the one who started the “Narmada Bachao Andolan” after realizing that the project got funding from the World Bank even though it was not sanctioned by the Ministry of Environment and Forests at that time.
  • The movement caught so much attention that it even acquired international attention. The water from the dam is likely to affect 40,000 families who might have to leave their homes that will be submerged. Patkar’s main demand was the rehabilitation of the displaced tribals and farmer.
  • Other notable figures to have made a strong case of a protest against the project were Baba Amte, Arundhati Roy and Aamir Khan.
  • Due to constant pressure and struggle, the government on March 31, 1993, cancelled the loan authorized by the World Bank on the lines of inadequate assessment made by the government and the World Bank.
  • Initially, even the governments of Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra outrightly rejected the plan as they felt that they were at a disadvantage.
  • Another protest that came into existence this year was the ‘Jal Satyagraha’ by the people of Chota Barda village in Dhar, about 300km from Bhopal. The water level had started increasing gradually which became a problem for the residents. The National Disaster Response Force and the police were already on high alert in Dhar and Barwani.


A Boon or a bane?

 Benefits – It is likely to provide drinking water to 9500 villages, 173 towns in Gujarat and 124 villages in Rajasthan. Nearly 18.45 lakh hectares land in Gujarat will be irrigated by it. 2.46 lakh hectares of land will be irrigated in Rajasthan as well. This, in turn, will raise the agricultural production to about 87 lakh tonnes per annum.

It will also generate 100 crore units of electricity per year. The Sardar Sarovar Dam will also provide flood protection to an area of about 30,000 hectares. It will also increase the number of jobs available in rural areas. A certain portion of the water will also be used for industrial purposes.

Drawbacks – A dam this huge obviously needs land which means a displacement of families and the ecology of the land will be misbalanced. The project will affect 230 villages in Gujarat, Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh. 4 villages are going to submerge completely. About 32,600 families will be displaced.

To overcome the shortcomings, relief and rehabilitation are being undertaken by the Narmada Control Authority. After decades of failure of execution, SC approved this project only because the positives outweighed the negatives.

Like any other project, Modi’s ‘engineering miracle’ has both its advantages and disadvantages. The future results of the dam will unfold the answer to the question of the project being a boon or a bane for the locals as well as the states involved.

 

राज्‍यों से जुड़ी हर खबर और देश-दुनिया की ताजा खबरें पढ़ने के लिए नार्थ इंडिया स्टेट्समैन से जुड़े। साथ ही लेटेस्‍ट हि‍न्‍दी खबर से जुड़ी जानकारी के लि‍ये हमारा ऐप को डाउनलोड करें।

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