PM OPENS SARDAR SAROVAR DAM
Monday, 18 September 2017 | NAYAN DAVE | GANDHINAGAR
On his 67th birthday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday dedicated the Sardar Sarovar Dam project to the nation saying if Sardar Patel wouldn’t have died early, the dam over the River Narmada might have completed in 70s or even earlier.
Apart from Gujarat, Rajasthan, Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh will too benefit from the project. Sardar Sarovar Dam is world’s second largest dam after Grand Coulee Dam in the United States.
“The soul of Sardar Patel would be showering blessings on us. The project — the ‘Lifeline of Gujarat’ which Sardar had dreamt of — is finally completed. The great leader had identified the necessity of Gujarat and its people. He saw the dream to end water crisis of not only Gujarat but neighbouring States much before I and many of us were born,” said the Prime Minister after dedicating the Sardar Sarovar Dam project to the nation.
Speaking at a public meeting nearly 60 km from Sardar Sarovar Dam site at Dabhoi town situated near the tribal-dominated area, Modi said apart from Sardar Patel another great leader Babasaheb Ambedkar too had envisaged the need for water revolution in the country. Unfortunately, the nation lost them early and the people couldn’t get their services for longer period, he added.
Modi had undertaken a 51-hour fast in 2005 for the permission to raise the dam height.
It was finally facilitated after he became the Prime Minister as Narmada Control Authority granted permission to raise height from 121.92 metres to 138.68 metres by erecting sluice gates over the dam on Modi’s 17th day as Prime Minister on June 12, 2014.
India’s first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru laid the foundation stone for the project on April 5, 1961. It has since undergone several upheavals before seeing light of the day 56 years later. In this context, Modi said he would live for people’s dreams and would die for their dreams.
Generally, Governments form and implement different schemes and projects and many times face problems, but the Sardar Sarovar Dam project had to face too many hurdles, said the Prime Minister, adding that at one point the entire world had ganged up against the dam project and the World Bank stopped the loan on the pretext of environment-related issues. However, people of Gujarat remained firm to complete the project at any cost even if the World Bank ceased to give money, he remarked.
Comparing water of the River Narmada as ‘Paras’, the Prime Minister said it would drench the thrust of those people who used to walk kilometres for a pot of water and our soldiers who were guarding the border in arid areas but also open the door of prosperity for tribal people who had to migrate to other region just because of water scarcity and poor farmers.
“I don’t celebrate birthdays. Coincidentally, today is Vishwakarma Jayanti. It is an emotional moment for me. I don’t consider the event as a Government or a BJP function. This is the event of people who want to celebrants completion of the project which is nothing less than a lifeline,” said Modi, adding that the dam project on the River Narmada is an engineering marvel as the construction material required to construct the dam could make an 8 km wide concrete road from Kashmir to Kanyakumari and from Kandla to Kohima. He also suggested that the making of Sardar dam as part of the curriculum of engineering courses.
With increased height up to 138.68 metres, the water storage capacity of the dam has now reached to 4.73 million acre feet (MAF). This is expected to benefit the participating States Gujarat, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra. Other than water, the hydro power project at Narmada dam produces 1,450 MW of power too. As per the Gujarat Government’s claims, drinking water would be supplied to 8,221 villages, 159 towns and eight cities across the State through the dam, while 17.92 lakh hectares of land across 3,125 villages would be irrigated. At least 10 lakh farmers will get irrigation benefits and four crore people would get drinking water supply.
The Prime Minister arrived at Gandhinagar on Saturday late evening and had night halt at Raj Bhavan. He made it a point to take blessings of his nonagenarian mother Heera Ba on his birthday early in the morning on Sunday before he proceeded to Sardar Sarovar Dam site to perform Puja to dedicate the project to nation. Modi had to take a de tour due to bad weather to reach the dam site.
http://www.dailypioneer.com/todays-newspaper/pm-opens-sardar-sarovar-dam.html
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