Mixed response to decision to raise dam height

Navagam: Gujarat Chief Minister Anandiben performs worship at Sardar Sarovar Dam on the Narmada River near Navagam on Thursday. After a wait of eight long years, the Gujarat government has got the final clearance to raise the height of Sardar Sarovar dam from 121.92 metres to 138.68 metres. PTI Photo (PTI6_12_2014_000192A)

The decision of the Narmada Control Authority to raise the height of the Narmada dam has evoked a mixed response. While the Gujarat government has welcomed the move, activists have questioned the urgency with which the government took the decision.

Himanshu Thakker of the South Asian Network of Dams, Rivers and People, however, told The Hindu that “There is no justification for taking such a hurried decision when Gujarat is not able to utilise even 20 per cent of the Narmada waters and have not even constructed the canal network.”

The decision to raise the dam height had been kept in abeyance for the past eight years as the rehabilitation of the displaced families has not been completed.

The estimated cost of the inter-State, multi-purpose dam is over Rs. 39,000 crore. It has an installed capacity to generate 1,450 MW of power. The main dam is 1.2-km long.

The project cost is to be shared among Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Gujarat.