Depression may hit work on Narmada dam height

Ahmedabad, Sep 3 (UNI) The heavy depression in Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh since yesterday could throw a spanner in the works of Sardar Sarovar Narmada Nigam Ltd(SSNNL) in raising the Narmada dam height to 121.92 metres.

The work is slated to begin from middle of October this year.

Speaking to UNI from the Narmada dam site yesterday, Executive Engineer, main Sardar Sarovar dam construction, Ashok Gajjar said with over 5.60 lakh cusecs water being discharged from the Narmada dam and depression continuing in Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh, the work may begin in October end or early November and not after October 15, as visualised.

Not only the dam height has to be raised to 121.92 metres following the permission granted by the Narmada Control Authority in its 76th meeting held in New Delhi on March 8, 2006, but thirty pillars would have to be erected over the dams to install 30 radial gates of 60 feet by 60 feet in height that would help in storing water.

The pillars would raise the overall dam height to 144.5 metres, Mr Gajjar said. Finally a slab would have to be placed over the pillars that would eventually raise the height to a final height of 146.5 metres. This work on the pillars is expected to be completed not before December 2007, he added.

This multipurpose river valley project envisaging a 1,210 metre long, 146.50 metre high and 124 metre wide reservoir has used 68.20 lakh cubic metres of pre-cooled concrete. The dam's reservoir, when complete would be 214 km long with an average width of 1.60 km and gross storage capacity of 9,500 million cubic metre (MCM) below the full reservoir level (FRL) at an height of 138.68 metres (455 ft), Mr Gajjar said.

The Sardar Sarovar Project will provide irrigation facilities to 17.93 lakh hectares, covering 3,112 villages of 73 talukas in 15 districts of Gujarat. It will also irrigate 75,000 hectares in the strategic desert districts of Barmer and Jalore in Rajasthan and 37,500 hectares in the tribal hilly tract of Maharashtra through lift.

About 75 per cent of the command area in Gujarat is drought-prone while the entire command (75,000 hectares.) in Rajasthan is drought-prone.

A special allocation of 0.86 MAF (million acre feet) of water has been made to provide drinking water to 135 urban centres and 8,215 villages (45 per cent of total 18,144 villages of Gujarat) within and outside command in Gujarat for present population of 18 million and prospective population of over 40 million by the year 2021.

All the villages and urban centres 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.

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