Everything You Need To Know About Sardar Sarovar Dam On Narmada River

The Sardar Sarovar dam, built on the river Narmada near Navagam in Gujarat in India, is the world’s second biggest concrete gravity dam in terms of volume (the biggest is the Grand Coulee Dam in the USA). It is part of the Narmada Valley Project, which envisages the construction of a series of large multi-purpose dams on the Narmada river.

The Narmada river flows below the Mathwar hills, through a long gorge that extends into Gujarat, where it’s tapped by the Sardar Sarovar dam. Of the 30 dams planned on the river Narmada, the Sardar Sarovar Dam is the largest structure to be built. After Ganga and Godavari, Narmada is the 3rd largest river that completely flows in India.

History of Sardar Sarovar Dam

• Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, the First Deputy Prime Minister of India had envisioned this project. The foundation stone of the project was laid out by Pt. Jawahar Lal Nehru on April 5, 1961.
• A Project report prepared for the dam led to a dispute regarding the sharing of Narmada waters between the states of Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, and Maharashtra.
• To adjudicate upon the distribution of water and for Narmada River valley development, on Oct 6th, 1969, the Central government constituted Narmada Water Disputes Tribunal (NWDT). The Tribunal gave its award on 7th Dec 1979.
• Accordingly, out of the 35 billion cubic meters of water available from the dam, Madhya Pradesh would receive 65% share, Gujarat 32%, Rajasthan 2%, and Maharashtra 1%.

• Narmada Control Authority (NCA) was set up for the implementation of the decision of the Tribunal. The construction of the dam began in April 1987.
• In the course of its construction, Narmada Control Authority approved a series of changes in its height, from an original of 80 meters (260 ft) to its final height of 163 meters (535 ft) from the foundation.
• After 56 years since its foundation stone was laid down, the dam was inaugurated on September 17th, 2017, by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Where is Sardar Sarovar Project in India map?

Features of the Sardar Sarovar Dam

• The Sardar Sarovar Dam height is 163 meters from the foundation and has a total length of 1210 meters, the Sardar Sarovar Dam is the world’s second largest dam in terms of size and volume.
• The dam has 30 flood gates of which 7 have a dimension of 60*60 feet while the remaining have a 60*50 dimension. Each of these gates weighs around 450 tonnes and takes about an hour to close.

• Almost 1.1 lakh cubic meters of concrete were used to build the dam. The dam reservoir is 214 km long and 1.8 km wide and has a total storage capacity of 7.7 million acre-ft, however, the current active capacity is 4.7 million acre-ft.
• Sardar Sarovar Dam water level- The maximum water depth is 140 meters. The Narmada main canal brings water from the dam through 460 km in Gujarat and 74 km in Rajasthan.
• It is the largest and longest canal and is an engineering marvel as the canal has many pumping stations and the water reaches many elevated areas. The canal was inaugurated on 24th April 2008.

Irrigation

Considered to be Gujarat’s lifeline, the 1.2 km long and 163 meters deep, the dam irrigates 17,920 km2 of land spread across various regions of Gujarat, 75% of which are drought-prone areas. It also irrigates 730 km2 of arid areas in Barmer and Jalore districts in Rajasthan.

Drinking water supply

A special allocation of water has been made to provide drinking water to 131 urban centers and 9633 villages. The water supply requirement of several industries was also met from the project giving a boost to all-around production.

Hydroelectric power generation of Sardar Sarovar Dam

• The dam has two powerhouses through which it generates hydroelectricity. The main powerhouse has six 200MW Francis pump turbines, which generate 1200 MW of power and the other power station has five 50MW Kaplan turbines, generating 250 MW of power.
• The combined output of both the powerhouses is 1450 MW. The electricity produced will light up many households across three states.
• 57% of the electricity produced goes to Maharashtra, while Madhya Pradesh gets 27% and 16% goes to Gujarat.

Narmada Canal

• The Narmada canal brings water from the Sardar Sarovar Dam north through 460 kilometers of the state of Gujarat and then 74 kilometers into Rajasthan.
• With a total length of 750 km, the main canal has 42 branches. The dam irrigates 17,920 sq km of land which includes 12 districts, 62 talukas, and 3,393 villages in Gujarat and 730 sq km in Barmer and Jalore districts of Rajasthan.

Narmada canal solar power generation

Solar power panels are placed over the canal which helps in generating solar power, which helps the surrounding villages to get power, and also helps reduce the evaporation of water.

Flood protection

The dam also provides flood protection to riverine reaches measuring 30,000 ha. covering 210 villages and Bharuch city and a population of 4.0 lac in Gujarat.

Narmada Wildlife

Shoolpaneshwar wildlife sanctuary on the 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 are being benefited by Narmada dam.

Narmada Controversy- The Narmada Bachao Andolan

• Right from its inception, the Sardar Sarovar Dam has been mired in controversies. In fact, it became one of the most controversial dams in India in the late 1980s with doubts being raised over its environmental impact.
• The Narmada Bachao Andolan (Save Narmada Movement), which began in 1985, was a big social movement protesting against the construction of the Sardar Sarovar dam.
• It was led by Medha Patkar and included many human rights activists, scientists, academicians, artists, environmentalists, Adivasis, and farmers.
• It questioned the environmental cost, undemocratic planning, and unjust distribution of benefits of the project. The movement gained strength in 1989 and Medha Patkar received the international Right Livelihood Award in 1991.

• Due to international pressure the World Bank, which had sanctioned funds for the project, the Morse Commission was set up in 1991.
• The Commission looked into the construction of the dam, environmental cost, and human displacement. Its report exposed the World Bank’s violation of its own policies and recommended drastic reform of the relocation programs and environmental assessment.
• With mounting pressure all around, the Indian government canceled the remaining loans from the World Bank. The Supreme Court of India stayed the construction of the dam in 1996. The construction resumed only in the year 2000 after Supreme Court allowed it with strict conditions attached.

Best time visit Sardar Sarovar Dam

The best time is the early winter around October and November.