Narmada Dam Project

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The "Narmada Dam Project", is a project involving the construction of a series of large hydroelectricity|hydroelectric dams on the Narmada River \Narbada River in India. Sardar Sarovar Project (SSP) is the largest multipurpose project involved in the construction. The project was first conceived of in the 1940s by the country's first prime minister, Jawaharlal Nehru. The project only took form in 1979 as part of a development scheme to increase irrigation and produce hydroelectricity. Of the 30 large dams planned on river Narmada, Sardar Sarovar is the largest. With a proposed height of 136.5 m, it's also high on discord between the planners and the Narmada Bachao Andolan. The multi-purpose project will irrigate more than 18,000 square kilometres - most of it in drought prone areas like Kutch and Saurashtra.

Contents 1 Benefits of the dam 2 Characteristics 3 Height of Concern 4 Criticism of the dam

[edit] Benefits of the dam

The expected benefits of the dam as listed in the Judgement of Supreme Court of India are as follows: The benefits expected to flow from the implementation of the Sardar Sarovar Project had been estimated as follows:

• Irrigation: 1,792,000 km² of land spread over 12 districts, 62 talukas and 3393 villages (75% of which is drought-prone areas) in Gujarat and 730 km² in the arid areas of Barmer and Jalore districts of Rajasthan.

[edit] Characteristics

• Drinking water facilities to 8215 villages and 135 urban centres in Gujarat both within and outside command. These include 5825 villages and 100 urban centres of Saurashtra and Kachchh which are outside the command. In addition, 881 villages affected due to high contents of fluoride will get potable water.

• Power Generation: 1450 megawatts.

• Annual Employment
  • 600,000 man-years in post construction.

• Protection against advancement of little Rann of Kutch and Rajasthan desert.

• Flood protection to riverine reaches measuring 300 km², 210 villages including Bharuch city and 750,000 population.

• Benefits to:

a) Dhumkhal Sloth Bear Sanctuary.

b) Wild Ass Sanctuary in Little Rann of Kachchh

c) Black Buck Sanctuary at Velavadar.

d) Great Indian Bustard Sanctuary in Kachchh

e) Nal Sarovar Bird Sanctuary.

• Development of fisheries: Deepening of all village tanks of command which will increase their capacities, conserve water, will recharge ground water, save acquisition of costly lands for getting

earth required for constructing canal banks and will reduce health hazard.

• Facilities of sophisticated communication system in the entire command.

• Increase in additional annual production on account of the dam
  • Agricultural production- Rupees 9,000,000,000, Domestic water supply-Rupees 1,000,000,000, Power Generation -Rupees 4,400,000,000 thus totalling Rupees 14,000,000,000."

[edit] Height of Concern

• In February 1999, the Supreme Court of India gave the go ahead for the dam's height to be raised to 88 metres from the initial 80.

• In October 2000 again, in a 2 to 1 majority judgement in the Supreme Court, the government was allowed to construct the dam up to 90 metres.

• In May 2002, the Narmada Control Authority approved increasing the height of the dam by another five metres.

• In March 2004, the Authority allowed another raise - this time to 110 metres.

• In March 2006, the Narmada Control Authority gave clearance for the height of the dam to increased from 110.64 metres to 121.92. (This comes after the Supreme Court of India had refused to stay the height of the Dam again in 2003)

• In September 2006, the people living alongside the river were experiencing very high rise floods. The Narmada Control Authority believe that below the dam a leak of some hundreds of litres of water got through.

[edit] Criticism of the dam

The Narmada dam is India's most controversial dam project and its environmental impact and net costs and benefits are widely debated. The Narmada Dam has been the center of controversy and protest since the late 1980s.

Local protests taking the form of a movement, known as the "Narmada Bachao Andolan" (Save Narmada Movement) have been led by Medha Patkar. The World Bank was a funder of the SSP, but withdrew after an independent review in 1990. Indian writer Arundhati Roy has protested the Narmada Dam project.

Spanner Films's documentary Drowned Out (2002) follows one tribal family who decide to stay at home and drown rather than make way for the Narmada Dam.

Author Arundhati Roy wrote a protest of the Narmada Dam Project in her book The Cost of Living (Modern Library, 1999).

The Supreme Court gave clearance for the height to be increased to 121.92mts, but in the same judgment, Mr. Justice Bharucha has given directions that the Grievance Redressal Authorities of Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra should, after inspection, certify, before further construction of the dam begins, that all those ousted by the huge increase in height by 5mts from the present level have already been satisfactorily rehabilitated, and also that suitable vacant land for rehabilitating all those who will be ousted by the increase in the height by another 5 meters is already in the possession of the respective States. This process shall be repeated for every successive 5-metre increase in height. This observation has nothing new to offer, in substance; As "The Narmada Water Disputes Tribunal Award" states that land should be made available to the oustees at least a year in advance before submergence (Clause XI, Subclause IV(2) (iv), Subclause IV(6)(i), (ii)).

Of equal concern is the rehabilitation process that has been carried out. The SC guidelines state that "every displaced family whose more than 25% of agricultural land holding was acquired would be entitled to be allotted irrigable land of its choice to the extent of the land acquired subject to the prescribed ceiling with a minimum of two hectares land and that PAFs' would be allotted a house/plot free of cost". Now the report submitted by the Group of Ministers(GoM), that visited the resettlement and rehabilitation(R&R) sites in Madhya Pradesh, has some of the following observations:

"The GoM visited Khalghat site where Madhya Pradesh Government had offered land to 407 families. Only 2 families had accepted the land. The top soil there is black. The people say that they have to dig 10 feet deep to find the cultivable land"

"It was for the first time that the GoM heard from Shri Mohan Lal that the Income Tax Department deducted Rupees One lakh from every unit of 10 lakhs that was paid to the oustees by way of compensation and for purchase of land. It was Shri Mohan Lal again who said that people were pressurized to accept cash. He said that a bribe of Rs.20,000/- had to be paid for receipt of every cheque that was given to the oustees"

"the GoM went to Dharampuri. It is the largest area selected by the Madhya Pradesh Government for settlement of oustees and 4,000 PAFs are slated to be settled there (No, they are shown to have been settled there already). Not a single plot of land has been occupied by any PAF"

The Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister has said that the GoM formed its opinion of the R&R process based on visits to limited number of sites but still, the fact remains that there are at least these many families left to be rehabilitated.

Further raising of the height of the Narmada Dam, as permitted would also result in the forest area of Hoshangabad being completely destroyed.

Buildings and structures in India Hydroelectric power plants in India Economy of Madhya Pradesh Gujarat Jalore district Dams in India Economy of Gujarat