Narmada Dam Project

Issues, Developments &

Solutions

Nandan Shah
TFS - Sauces

The Narmada river

The Narmada River, which originates at the town of Shahdol in

the state of Madhya Pradesh, flows for 1,300 km through Gujarat,
Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh - the three states of western
and central India and empties into the Arabian Sea. It has 41
tributaries and its basin is home to more than 20 million people.

Narmada Dam Project

Project began in 1979
The Government's plan is to build 30 large, 135 medium

and 3000 small dams to harness the waters of the Narmada

and its tributaries.
Initial Budget (1986-87) :- Rs 6,400 cr
Expenditure so far
:- Rs 14,000 cr
Projected Total cost
:- Rs 24,000 cr
Cost of main canal
:- Rs 4,000 cr
To be fully complete by 2025
The Sardar Sarovar in Gujarat is the 2nd largest in the world
(after 3-Gorges in China).

Brief History
1901

Construction of dam on Narmada River proposed

1947

Investigations begun into Narmada's potential for irrigation and electricity.

1961

Prime Minister Jawalarl Nehru lays foundation stone for Narmada dams
project.Includes plans for 3000 small, medium and large dams.

1985

World Bank approves $450 million loan to India for Sardar Sarovar.
Construction begins in 1986. Narmada Bachao Andolan coalition
forms led by Medha Patkar & Baba Amte

1993

Citing project irregularities, World Bank 1993 withdraws from Sardar

Sarovar.

1995

India's Supreme Court stops construction of dam while it reviews petition.

1999

Arundhati Roy, famous Booker Prize winning novelist, joins struggle

2000

Supreme Court allows building construction to continue up to 90 meters.

Narmada Control Authority formed to approve increase in height.

2003

Sardar Sarovar dam reaches 103 meters (338 ft.). In July, earthquake of
4.3 magnitude shakes dam.

2006

Sardar Sarovar dam reaches 121.92 meters

2025

Sardar Sarovar dam reaches 138.68 meters

About projects on Narmada

The Sardar Sarovar dam, under construction in Gujarat, Irrigate

19,05,000 ha of land
Increased the agriculture production by 8.7 million tons per annum
(worth US $ 430 million)
Generate environment friendly hydropower with installed capacity
of 1,450 MW
Supply drinking water to more than 8000 village and 135 urban
centers of the State (around 20 million population)

The Narmada Sagar dam, being erected in Madhya Pradesh, will

be slightly smaller, irrigating 1,23,000 hectares
Generating at first 220 MW, and then 150 MW.
Project planners expect the country to enjoy spin-off benefits such
as flood control, increased fish cultivation and tourism, and more
water for domestic and industrial use.

State wise Water Distribution

Issues
Social Issue
Health Issue
Ecological Issue
Environmental Issue
Cultural Issue

Social Issues
There was no social impacts assessment
before the dam project started. The
World Bank tried to do an assessment
after the dam project started but found
that there was a severe shortage in
baseline data.

Narmada Dam Project will eventually

displace more than a million people.

The Narmada Sagar and Sardar Sarovar

dams alone will necessitate the resettling
of 300,000; since nearly half of these are
tribal populations, whose beliefs and'
lifestyles are intricately woven into the
forest and the land, environmentalists
fear for their survival outside their
traditional territory.

Health Issues
Outbreak of diseases
The concern of an increase in malaria because of the
increased reservoirs and water logged lands, which are prime
locations for mosquitoes to breed.
Authorities have suggested pesticides but there is concern for
humans ingesting the pesticide.
Another disease on the rise is TB because of the increasing
number of people being moved out of their villages because
of dams.

Environmental Issues
Water logging excess water in the soil and can render the soil
useless. This could affect 40% of the area to be irrigated.

Stalinization when irrigation water has more saline content and

adds more salt to the system. This happens because the land to
be irrigated is an arid area and not used to so much water. This
impacts the flora and fauna and makes the water not suitable for
drinking.

Reduction in forest land and increase the scarcity land for

cultivation. Afforested land cant be equal to deforested land.

Ecological Issues
Threat to aquatic habitat barriers for fish passage, water quality
is affected because of change in land use can also affect aquatic
life.

With the submerging of forest land, a wealth of flora and fauna will
simply disappear. There are no forest corridors enabling wildlife to
cross over from the submerged areas to other forested regions
since the patches of forest are surrounded by agricultural and
barren land. Once the dams flood the land, the animals will either
drown or be driven into the fields where they could destroy crops.

Cultural Issues
Resettlement threatens to culturally victimize people in other

ways. These displaced people must adapt their lifestyle in that

they are often "moving from relative isolation and independence
to a high degree of dependence on public institutions and services
to protect against disastrous consequences of the move

Language and rituals will become barrier to moving out.

NBA
Narmada Bachao Andolan is social movement consisting of tribal

people, adivasis, farmers, environmentalists and human rights

activists against the Sardar Sarovar Dam being built across the
Narmada river, Gujarat, India.
Their mode of campaign includes hunger strikes and garnering
support from noted film and art personalities (notably Bollywood
film actor Aamir Khan).
Narmada Bachao Andolan, together with its leading spokespersons
Medha Patkar and Baba Amte, were the 1991 recipient of the Right
Livelihood Award.
Using the right to fasting, Medha Patkar undertook a 22 day fast
that almost took her life. In 1991, her actions led to an
unprecedented independent review by the World Bank.

Controversies against NBA

The Narmada dam's benefits include provision of drinking

water, power generation and irrigation facilities. The

campaign led by the NBA activists has held up the project's
completion, and the NBA supporters have attacked on local
people who accepted compensation for moving.

There had also been instances when the NBA activists turned
violent and attacked rehabilitation officer from Narmada
Valley Development Authority (NVDA), and caused damage
to the contractor's machineries.

The NBA has also been accused of lying under oath in court

about land ownership in areas affected by the dam. The

Supreme Court has mulled perjury charges against the group.

Solutions

RESETTLEMENT &
REHABILITATION PROGRAMME

a.
b.
c.
d.
e.

A total of 244 villages are to be affected by the construction of the dam,

however only 4 villages will face 100% submergence of agricultural land due
to Sardar sarovar dam.
Sardar Sarovar Punarvasvat Agency (SSPA) under this there were
different cells where started like
Agriculture cell
To assist the Grievances Redressal Machinery in resolving problems relating to
agricultural lands,
Medical cell
To provide preventive and curative medical services to R&Rs as per the need.
Rehabilitation cell
To raise the living standard of the resettled families by providing them
agricultural assets, facility for animal husbandry etc, after resettlement.
Education cell
17330 students benefited with 201 new schools.
Land cell
To ensure that the agricultural lands allotted to PAFs are of good quality, either
black medium black or sandy loam and are suitable for agricultural purpose

Resettlement and Rehabilitation

Package for Project Affected Families

2 hectares irrigable Agriculture land.

Residential plot of 500 Sq. Mts.
Assistance of Rs. 45000/- for the construction of house.
Subsistence allowance of Rs. 4500/-.
Assistance of Rs.7000/- for procuring productive assets like
bullocks and agricultural equipments.
Resettlement grant of Rs. 750/-.
Street light and internal electrification of 1.5 point free of cost
in Core House.
Personal accident insurance etc.
A school and children's park in each resettlement site.
Dispensary in each site where MP and MH ousters are
resettled.

Environmental protection
The ministry of Environment and Forests had laid down certain
stringent conditions at the time of giving clearance to the project
in the year 1987. So as to comply with the conditions of
clearance, following programmes were undertaken.

Forest Conservation Programme

Fisheries Development
Health Aspects
Archaeological Aspects
Eco-Tourism Development

Benefits
The Sardar Sarovar dam, under construction in Gujarat, will

irrigate an estimated 1.8 million hectares and generate 300 MW of

electricity in the initial phase, later dropping to 150 MW in the final
phase.

The Narmada Sagar dam, being erected in Madhya Pradesh, will

be slightly smaller, irrigating 123,000 hectares and generating at

first 220 MW, and then 150 MW.

Project planners expect the country to enjoy spin-off benefits such

as flood control, increased fish cultivation and tourism, and more
water for domestic and industrial use.

Drinking water for whole year and prevention of draught.

Thank You