ENVIRONMENTAL ASPECTS OF SARDAR SAROAR PROJECT

Dileep V Raj

RET14004

The Narmada River is India's fifth longest river, starting in the central

Indian state of Madhya Pradesh and flowing west through the states of

Maharashtra and Gujarat to the Gulf of Khambhat

The Sardar Sarovar Dam is the second largest project in the

Narmada Valley in terms of both total area submerged and the

numbers of people displaced

•The SSP has been one of the most debated development

projects of the past several decades in India and at the

international level.

•Sardar Sarovar is a classic example of a development project

which is deemed to be "in the national interest.“

•Sardar Sarovar Project, which is in Gujarat are proposed to be

taken up with World Bank assistance.

•This project involves four states – Gujarat, MP, Maharashtra

and Rajasthan

•Hydropower installed capacity of 1,450 megawatts.

SSP KEY FEATURES

•SSP’s canal network is projected to be the largest in the world.

•The key feature of SSP was to be a 138 meter high dam across the

Narmada River in eastern Gujarat that is to provide irrigation

water for 1.8 million hectares

•Even though it has many goals to achieve, the environmental

problems it caused was high in number.

•Against the unethical building of SSP there formed a movement

called Narmada Bachavo Andholan (NBA).

Initial Budget(1986-87)Rs 6,400 cr

Expenditure so far Rs

14,000 cr

Projected Total costRs 24,000 cr

Cost of main canal Rs

4,000 cr

ISSUES RAISED

•The SSP is not only a vast project, it is also a project that creates

an extensive submergence zone. The reservoir will have an

extension upto 240 Km.

•Each additional metre of dam construction at this juncture has

such important consequences in terms of submergence.

•Once completed the Sardar Sarovar Dam Project will submerge

approximately 37,000 hectares of land for the reservoir, and

approximately 80,000 hectares for the extensive canal works.

•It will displace at least 100,000 people who reside in

approximately 245 villages. Approximately 140,000 additional

farmers will be affected by the canal and irrigation system.

SOCIAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL EFFECTS

A grim situation awaits more than 1500 families in

Maharashtra and 12000 families in Madhya Pradesh who face

submergence this monsoon due to the rise in the height of the

Sardar Sarovar dam.

Residents of Pendriapada (Guj) look on their destroyed homes and fields

Stagnant water increased….

More mosquitoes breeding…

Increased levels of malaria…

Narmada Main Canal

A huge percentage of the

displaced are tribal people

(57.6 per cent in the case of the

Sardar Sarovar Dam). Include

Dalits and the figure becomes

obscene.

If you consider that tribal

people account for only eight

per cent, and Dalits 15 per

cent, of India's population, it

opens up a whole other

dimension to the story.

Tribal momadic people

displaced for settled irrigated

cash crop growers

With incessant rains in Gujarat

water logging is threatening the

standing crops

ENVIRONMENTAL EFFECTS

•Rehabilitation of the largely tribal, affected

population;

• Catchment area treatment;

•Command area development;

•Compensatory afforestation;

•Loss of flora and fauna.

Good land and vegetation Flooded and Dried

Near completion of Sardar Sarovar Dam in August 2004,

monsoon winds flooded the Narmada, causing it to be clogged

with sediment. Floodwater also broke through the canal wall,

submerging local villages and engulfing hundreds of homes.

Rehabilitation and Submergence

Forest land 13,744 ha

Culturable land 11,318 ha

Land designated for other uses 14,072 ha

********

39,134 ha

Number of villages affected

No. of villages affected 237

Villages partly affected 234

Totally submerged 3

COMMAND AREA DEVELOPMENT

•Prevention of waterlogging and salinity;

•Optimization of water utilization; and

•Maintenance of water quality

COMPENSATORY AFFORESTATION

The project authorities have not been able to identify non-forest land for

compensatory afforestation

CONCLUSIONS

•The Sardar Sarovar Dam is a case of a development project which is

both directly and indirectly causing a massive amount of environmental

displacement.

•In recent years frequent earthquakes are happening around the dam and

adjacent.

•The sediments have been started to disrupt the reservoir and

surroundings.

•Soil become saline at many areas.

Generators blocked with silt

Reservoirs silt up

Production increase not as great as predictions.

Pushed through against massive public opposition

The rich gain And the poor lose out? Could the money be better spent?

Its never for a better cause. Its all for some

political dealings. Raise Up the voice

Narmada Bachavo Andholan