Supreme Court dismisses NBA application

New Delhi Aug 24: The Supreme Court today dismissed an application filed by Narmada Bachao Andolan (NBA) seeking direction to the governments of Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat to reduce the water level of Sardar Sarovar Dam from 190 meter to 189 meter so that villages falling in submergence zone do not get submerged.

A bench comprising Chief Justice KG Balakrishnan and Justices Tarun Chatterjee and RV Ravindran, however, directed the parties to maintain status quo as on today till further order.

Earlier, the Centre as well as the two states of Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat opposed the application on the grounds that the water level cannot be brought down and 40 million cubic meter of water will have to be released which may lead to floods in the area and a large number of villages are likely to get submerged. The court also agreed with the government that it is not possible to reduce the water level.

The dam has 23 gates and NBA has been opposing the construction of the dam on the grounds that a large number of families belonging to weaker sections will be displaced and has been insisting that further construction of dam should not be permitted till all the ousted families are properly rehabilitated in accordance with the orders of the Supreme Court passed in 1985.

The apex court also directed the parties to maintain the levels of power generation at the current rate.

UNI