Sardar Sarovar Dam

The building of the Sardar Sarovar Dam has been filled with controversies right from its Inception when the first Foundation stone was lit by the first prime minister of India Jawahar Lal Nehru in the year 1961. The dam received massive agitation in the form of Narmada Bachao Andolan as it would lead to the submergence of a significant part of the Narmada Valley and cause the entire biodiversity of the area to be negatively affected. The project also faced many controversies when disputes arose between the three states regarding the amount of water and electricity that was to be shared between them.

What is the Sardar Sarovar Dam

Considered to be the world’s largest and second biggest concrete gravity dam after America’s Grand Coulee, it was developed to provide hydroelectric power and water supply to the neighboring states of Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, and Maharashtra. The foundation of the Dam was started on the 5th of April in the year 1961 by the then Prime Minister of India Jawaharlal Nehru. The entire construction took close to 56 years to complete before water and electricity were able to be supplied to the states. The dam is around 1.2 km long and has a height of 138.68 meters as of 2017. The idea of the Dam was first conceptualized by the first Deputy Prime Minister Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel so that the supply of water can be managed in the Western States.

Today, the Dam provides drinking water to around 131 towns and cities and 9633 villages in the 48 States. The Sardar Sarovar Dam has a significant amount of capacity installed at 1450 MW which generates power and provides electricity. Through the use of the dam around 800000 hectares of land are irrigated in Gujarat and close to 246000 hectares of land are irrigated in Rajasthan. Once the project was established a Treaty to please between the states would receive the water from the dam where it was decided that Madhya Pradesh would get around 27%, while Gujarat would receive 16% and Maharashtra 57%. It was a multi-crore project that caused the doubling of 16000 crore rupees financed by the state government and other financial facilities after the World bank backed out due to the Narmada Bachao Andolan.

What are the major issues related to it?

Despite the several benefits that the Sardar Sarovar Dam has brought to the people of India several ill effects have also arisen because of the building of the Dam. The building of the Dam has cost significant submergence in the area around Barwani and Dhar district Madhya Pradesh. close to 40000 families 192 villages in the state of Madhya Pradesh had to be rehabilitated when the Reserve would be filled to its optimum capacity, fearing massive floods. The construction of the damp also has entailed massive flooding in villages and destroyed productive land of agriculture. The environmental consequences have been significantly greater as it has led to a negative effect on downstream fishing which was one of the major occupations in the area. It is also causing problems of waterlogging and sanitization of water along with a rapid silting of the river bed in the area. There have also been reports of increased deforestation with the entire natural habitat of the place altered.

The building of the Dam has also caused several social repair issues such as the displacement of small farmers and peasants who were not provided with proper financial compensation for the damage done to the land. There have also been massive protests and cases read against the respective state governments for the violation of the right to life and livelihood. The state governments have also been accused of displacing thousands of farmers causing them to start a new life without any resources. Moreover, the entire project was accused of fraud and corruption which caused the World Bank to withdraw its loan and remove its support. The Narmada Valley has already seen massive submergence of land in several areas which raises concern regarding the future of conserving the Biodiversity in the area.

Conclusion

It can be concluded that the Sardar Sarovar Dam project was built with the hope of providing better Electric Supply and water supply to the dry states in the western part of the country. India been predominantly dependent upon agriculture at the beginning of the 20th century, this construction would have helped the country meet the Rapid demand in agriculture. However, the building of the Dam was marred in several controversies with the start of the Narmada Bachao Andolan, followed by their involvement in the Supreme Court. The environmentalists accused the Government of negligence of how the dam may impact the biodiversity of the area and cause mass displacement of the people.