56 years after the foundation stone for the Sardar Sarovar Dam was laid by the then Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru in Narmada district’s Kevadia. One of India’s biggest dam will be finally inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on September 17, which is also his birthday, Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani said.
The Best Gift For PM Modi
“The Prime Minister will dedicate the Sardar Sarovar project to the nation after opening the 30 gates installed in it, which were closed in the direction of the Narmada Control Authority on June 17 this year,” Mr. Rupani told IANS.
“It is the best gift for him on his birthday, as he has worked tirelessly for the dam to bring water in the parched areas of the state,” Rupani also said.
The Narmada Control Authority had ordered the gates of the dam to be shut. The height of the dam was then increased to 138 meters raising its storage capacity to 4.73 million cubic meters from the earlier 1.27 million cubic meters. The dam is nearly 1.2-km-long and is 163 meters deep. The dam’s original height was 121.92 meters. This dam is also called the Narmada dam, it will be the second biggest dam in the world after the Grand Coulee Dam in the United States of America.
Dam Was Delayed By Opposition
Accusing the opposition Congress for delaying the Sardar Sarovar project, Chief Minister said: “Before 2014, the UPA government did not give permission for seven years to install gates on the dam. And after Modiji became prime minister, the permission was granted in 17 days.”
To Support Power And Irrigation
The Sardar Sarovar Dam is a part of Narmada Valley Project – a hydraulic engineering project under which multi-purpose dams are built on the Narmada river. Irrigation and Hydroelectricity are the two essential areas under the project.
The Sardar Sarovar dam produces 4,141 crore units of electricity via its two powerhouses – river bed powerhouse and canal head powerhouse.
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The power generated by the dam will be reportedly used by three states – Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, and Maharashtra. Gujarat is expected to get 16 percent share, Madhya Pradesh 27 percent and the remaining 57 percent will go to Maharashtra.
Besides this, the dam will irrigate lands in Rajasthan’s Barmer and Jolore regions and some parts of Maharashtra.
Provide Water To 9000 Villages
The inauguration of the dam is expected to irrigate over 18 lakh hectares of land in Gujarat as the river water will flow into 9,000 villages through canal network.
Also, 0.86 million cubic feet of water will be used to provide drinking water to 131 urban centers.
