Mr. Minesh Verma

minesh_verma@yahoo.com

Narmada

INTRODUCTION

Water has been the key factor in the conception and growth of human civilization. With the rapid expansion of population, the demand for food and water has been growing. India's far-sighted leaders recognized this at the time of India's independence and a member of large Multi Purpose River Valley Projects such as Bhakra Nangal, Hirakud, Nagarjuna Sagar etc. got implemented. These have contributed significantly to India's self-sufficiency on the food front. Very appropriately, Pt. Nehru called these projects as the Temples of Modern India.

There should not be complacency in this regard in view of the India's growing population and the increasing aspirations of the people for a better life. In order to meet the ever growing demand for such basic needs of the people as portable water, food and electricity, the full potential of the country's water resources will have to be tapped.

Along with the other major River Valley Projects, India's leaders had conceived a project for the utilization of the waters of Narmada, the largest West-flowing River in the country. It was the dream of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, the Iron Man of India, to harness the waters of the Narmada River to bring prosperity to the people of the Western Region.

RIVER NARMADA

Her divine holiness Maa Devi Narmada, the largest flowing Westward, rises near Amarkantak range of mountains in Madhya Pradesh. It is the fifth largest river in the country and the largest one in Gujarat. It traverses Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Gujarat and meets the Gulf of Cambay. The total length of the river from source to sea is 1312 kilometers (815 miles), while the length upto dam site is 1163 kilometers (723 miles). The width of the river channel at dam site during high floods is 488 metre (1600 feet) and that during summer is 45.70 metre. (150 feet). The maximum recorded flood on 7th September 1994 was 70,847 cumecs (2.5 million cusecs) while minimum recorded flow in summer was 8.5 cumecs (300 cusecs.)

History of Sardar Sarovar (Narmada) Project

· The plan for harnessing the river for irrigation and power generation in the Narmada basin was initiated in 1946. · Seven projects including the Bharuch project were identified during the initial Survey and 4 projects Bharuch (Gujarat), Bargi, Tawa and Punasa in Madhya Pradesh were given top priority for investigation. · After the completion of investigation, the proposed dam at Gora in Gujarat with the full reservoir level (FRL) 161 ft (49.80m) was selected and the foundation stone was laid by the late Prime Minister, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru on 5th April 1961. · However as more detailed, modernized contour sheets from the Survey of India were available thereafter, possibility of raising the height of the dam for optimum utilization of water was considered. · In 1964, to resolve the dispute about sharing of the Narmada Waters between the Governments of Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh, the Government of India appointed an expert committee under the Chairmanship of late Dr. Khosla which recommended a higher dam with FRL 500 ft (152.44m) in 1965. · However, no agreement could be arrived at and the Narmada Water Dispute Tribunal (NWDT) was constituted by the Government of India in 1969, under the Inter State River Water Disputes Act, 1956. · After long deliberations, the Tribunal gave its final decision in December 1979. The main parameters of the decision were as under :

Allocation of water :

Madhya Pradesh Gujarat Maharashtra Rajasthan (A 75% dependable yields) Allocation in MAF 18.25 9.00 0.25 0.50 Total : 28.00 Height of the dam : FRL at MWL at RL 455.00 feet RL 460.00 feet (138.68 metres) (140.21 metres) Full Supply Level of the Main Canal - FSL at RL 300.00 feet (91.44 metres) Power allocation : Madhya Pradesh Maharashtra Gujarat Allocation in Percent (%) 57 27 16 · Thereafter the clearance from April-1987, only after which actual work on the project was taken up in the right earnest. Sardar Sarovar (Narmada) Project

Sardar Sarovar Project is an Inter -State Multi Purpose project of National importance. It is one of the largest projects under implementation anywhere in the world. It is sponsored by the states of Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Rajasthan. Sardar Sarovar Narmada Nigam Limited has been set up by Government of Gujarat as a 100% Government owned undertaking, to implement this project. The benefits and the costs of the project have been allocated to the four sponsoring states by the Narmada Water Disputes Tribunal, which gave its Award after 10 years of deliberations.

Important Factors:

Following are the important factors, which must be taken care for any large size irrigation project:

1. Benefits of the Project 2. Environmental Protection Measures 3. Rehabilitation and Resettlement 4. Financial Resources

1. MAJOR BENEFITS OF SARDAR SAROVAR (NARMADA) PROJECT:

Irrigation the Sardar Sarovar Project will provide irrigation facilities to 17.93 lakh ha. of land, covering 3393 villages of 62 talukas in 12 districts of Gujarat. It will also irrigate 75,000 ha. of land in the strategic desert districts of Barmer and Jallore in Rajasthan and 37,500 ha. in the tribal hilly tract of Maharashtra through lift.

Drinking Water Supply A special allocation of 0.86 MAF of water has been made to provide drinking water to 135 urban centers and 8215 villages (45% of total 18144 villages of Gujarat). All the villages and urban centers of arid region of Saurashtra and Kachchh and all "no source" villages and the villages affected by salinity and fluoride in North Gujarat will be benefited. Water supply requirement of several industries will also be met from the project giving a boost to all-round production.

Power Generation From total production of 1450 MW the power will be shared by three states - Madhya Pradesh - 57%, Maharashtra - 27% and Gujarat 16%. A series of micro hydel power stations are also planned on the branch canals where convenient falls are available.

Flood Protection The dam is designed for 87,000 cumecs (3.07 million cusecs) flood. It will also provide flood protection to riverine reaches measuring 30,000 ha. covering 210 villages and Bharuch city and a population of 4.0 lakh in Gujarat.

Wild Life It is also proposed to develop wild life sanctuaries viz. "Shoolpaneshewar wild life sanctuary" on left Bank, Wild Ass Sanctuary in little Rann of Kachchh, Black Buck National Park at Velavadar, Great Indian Bustard Sanctuary in Kachchh, Nal Sarovar Bird Sanctuary and Alia Bet at the mouth of River.

Additional Production SSP will generate 5,000 million units of electricity. On completion, annual additional agricultural production will be Rs. 1600 crores, power generation Rs. 400 crores and water supply Rs. 175 crores, aggregating about Rs. 2175 crores every year equivalent to about Rs. 6.0 crores a day.

Other Benefits In addition, there will be benefits of fisheries development, recreational facilities, water supply for industries, agro industrial development, protection of conserved forest from grazers and secondary benefits viz employment generation, increase in vegetal cover in 3.4 M. Ham. of GCA, gains due to compensatory forest, tree plantation 100 times and Carbon Dioxide (CO2) fixation to large extent by 70 times.

2. ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION MEASURES

Sardar Sarovar project is the first major river valley project, which is subjected to exacting environmental conditions imposed by the Government of India at the time of according clearance to this project. This is also one of the first projects where environmental impact assessment has been undertaken through agencies even when the project was in planning phase. to comply with the conditions of clearance, following programs were undertaken.

1) Forest conservation programme 2) Fisheries development 3) Health aspects 4) Archaeological aspects 5) Eco-tourism development

3. FINANCIAL RESOURCES

The project cost was estimated at Rs. 6,406 crores in 1986-87 and the estimates were revised to Rs. 13,118 crores as per 1991-92 rates. Since the implementation has been delayed for various reasons the project cost has naturally gone up further. Actual expenditure incurred on this project upto March 1998 is Rs. 6,642 crores. To ensure early completion of the project a provision of Rs. 14,000 crores has been proposed in the Ninth Five Year Plan

Current Status of Work: · At present, works on the main dam is stopped because of stay from Supreme Court. Construction and installation of canal head power house is completed. · Works on river bed power houses, the appurtenant works, main canal with distribution system from 0 km to 256 km and Saurashtra branch canal with distribution system are going on in full swing.

Entire project is divided into to the several parts as shown below:

1. Narmada Main Dam 2. Canal head Power House 3. River Bed Power House 4. Narmada Main Canal 5. Saurashtra Branch Canal SALIENT FEATURES

Location: 1. State : Gujarat 2. District : Narmada 3. Taluka : Nandod 4. River : Narmada

Hydrology: 1. Watershed area of the river above dam site : 88000 sq. km 2. Mean annual rainfall : 1120 mm 3. Annual run off at the dam site at different percentage 50 % : 4.10 M ham 75 % : 3.36 M ham 90 % : 2.44 M ham

Reservoir: 1. Full reservoir level : 138.68 m 2. Maximum water level : 140.21 m 3. Minimum draw down level : 110.64 m 4. Normal tail water level : 25.91 m 5. Gross storage capacity : 0.95 M ham 6. Dead storage capacity : 0.37 M ham 7. Live storage capacity : 0.58 M ham 8. Annual evaporation : 0.06 M ham 9. Submergence at F.R.L. 138.68 m :34867 ha 10. Submergence detail: a) No. of villages affected:

Full Partial Total Madhya Pradesh - 193 193 Maharashtra 33 33 Gujarat 3 16 19 Total 3 242 245

b) No. of families affected (as on March 1996):

Madhya Pradesh : 33014 Maharashtra : 3113 Gujarat : 4600 Total : 40727

Dam:

1. Type : Concrete gravity 2. Length of main dam : 1210.02 m 3. Top R.L. of : 146.50 m 4. Maximum height above the deepest foundation level : 163.00 m 5. Spillway: a) Type : ogee b) Energy dissipation arrangement : stilling basin with sloping apron c) Crest level of spillway : R.L. 121.92 m d) Gates: Type : redial Number : 7 Size : 18.30 m x 18.30 m & 23 no. 18.30 m x 16.76 m e) Clear water way at crest : 420.9 m 6. Spillway capacity : 84949.25 cumecs 7. Construction sluice: Number : 10 no. Size : 2.10 m x 2.74 m Length : 119.24 m Discharge capacity : 268.50 cumecs

Power installation:

River bed power house Canal head power house 1. No. of units 6 5 2. Rated capacity of each unit 200 MW 50 MW 3. Installed capacity 1200 MW 250 MW 4. Type of turbines Francis vertical (reversible) Kaplan (conventional) 5. Type of power house Underground surface

Canal system:

1. F.S.L. at H.R. : 91.45 m 2. Main canal: Length : 460 Km Base width in head reach : 76 m F.S.D. in head reach : 7.6 m Discharge capacity in head reach : 1132.66 cumecs Type of canal : lined contour canal 3. Gross command area (G.C.A.) : 34.286 lakh ha. 4. Culturable command area (C.C.A.) : 21.190 lakh ha. 5. Annual irrigation : 17.92 lakh ha.

Quantities of principal items: Main dam Excavation : 5.69 Mm3 Concrete : 6.87 Mm3 Drilling : 0.28 Mm3 Rockfill dams Excavation : 5.69 Mm3 Embankment : 6.20 Mm3 Main canal Excavation : 279 Mm3 Embankment : 8.60 Mm3 Lining 1:3:6 C.C. : 33.24 Mm3

Cost estimate (at 91-92 price level - Rupees in crore):

- Cost of unit-1 dam appurtenant works : 1739.35 - Cost of unit-2 main canal : 3295.08 - Cost of unit 3 hydro civil work : 368.08 - Electric installation : 1191.37 - Total : 1559.45

- Group-4 branch canal & distribution system : 5440.62 - Cost Narmada sager debitable to Sardar Sarovar : 146.74 - Total cost of the whole project : 13180.62