SC to decide on Sardar Sarovar Dam tomorrow

New Delhi, May 7: The Supreme Court will decide the fate of the Sardar Sarovar Dam tomorrow.

Meanwhile, the Narmada Bachao Andolan (NBA) and states of Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat have filed their written arguments in the apex court.

NBA in its arguments filed yesterday, contended that the rehabilitation of displaced people was yet to begin.

According to MP government's affidavit, work of providing civic amenities like water, electricity, roads, was yet to be completed.

As per their own admission, they had paid cash compensation only to one thousand families while the remaining 3000 families had been paid only a part of the compensation.

Another important point of NBA, seeking stay against the ongoing construction of the Dam, was that Gujarat had been able to utilise only 15 per cent of water available for generation of power.

As per the SC order of 2000 and 2005, no construction of the dam was permitted unless all oustees were properly rehabilitated.

MP in its submissions, however, contended that the oustees had been substantially rehabilitated and there was no justification for stopping the work of raising the height of the dam from 110 meters to 121.92 meters.

Gujarat was also opposing the plea of interim stay against the ongoing construction of the dam.

According to Gujarat, the work of the dam, when completed, should provide drinking water to additional 2000 villages in drought-prone areas of Kutch and Saurashtra.

In all, the states of Gujarat, MP, Rajasthan and Maharashtra shall be benefitted in terms of availability of the irrigation water.

A bench headed by Chief Justice Y K Sabharwal will decide tomorrow whether the ongoing construction work of the Sardar Sarovar Dam should be stopped or not. The Centre is also in favour of continuation of the construction work as it is a step in the direction of progress.

UNI