Ending Gujarat’s eight-year-long wait, Chief Minister Anandi Patel on 12th June announced that the Narmada Control Authority (NCA) has given approval to raise the height of the Sardar Sarovar Dam to 138.62 metres, which, on its completion, would allow the state to get three times more water for irrigation.
The government can go ahead with installation of sluice and radial gates at the dam and take its height to its full reservoir level, at 138.62 metres, from the present 121.92 metres and also increase water holding capacity by 74 per cent from 1.25 to 4.75 acre feet.
However, the state will have to speed up its long pending canal network, without which the additional water quantum will be of no use. Although the project started in 1982, 40 per cent of its 75,000-km-long canal networking work is still pending.
Thus, there will be little chance that water will reach the parched areas of Saurashtra, Kutch and north Gujarat to meet its full irrigation capacity of over 18 lakh hectares.
The dam covers MP, Gujarat, Maharashtra and Rajasthan.
The dam covers MP, Gujarat, Maharashtra and Rajasthan.
