Sardar Sarovar is a concrete gravity dam and the third largest dam in the world with a height of 163 meters and a length of 1210 meters built near Navagam in Kevadia town in Narmada district of western state Gujarat of India. Sardar Sarovar Dam is built on the river Narmada, the longest river of Gujarat and one of the seven most sacred rivers of India. This was one of the big projects in the dams to be built on the Narmada River, which took 56 years to finish.
Sardar Sarovar Dam took nearly 56 years to complete
The initiative to build the Sardar Sarovar Dam took place before independence. Sardar Vallabhai Patel an influential political leader in Indian independence took the initiative for this in 1945. The foundation of this dam was laid by the first Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru on 4 April 1961 but due to various reasons, the project was delayed. In 1979, the Narmada Water Dispute Tribunal set the height of the dam as 138.38 meters and the construction began. In 1995, the Supreme Court stayed its construction due to the displacement of people and environmental concerns. In 2000–2001 the Supreme Court gave conditional permission to build it and ordered to reduce the height of the dam to 110.64 meters. However, the height of the dam was allowed to be increased to 121.92 meters in 2006 and 138.90 meters in 2017. In this way, Sardar Sarovar Dam took nearly 56 years to complete. It was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi five decades succeeding the foundation was laid. On 17 September 2017, Prime Minister Narendra Modi dedicated Sardar Sarovar Dam to India and its people.
Controversy
Sardar Sarovar Dam is not only the largest dam in the country but also the most controversial project in India. Environmental and social activists campaigned against this project in the 1980s. This is the reason that the Supreme Court halted its construction in 1995. Also, the social activist Medha Patkar led the much talked about Narmada Bachao Andolan against its construction.
Highlights of the dam
Although this project had a lot of controversies, many people are benefiting from the dam. The active capacity of the dam is 5.8 km3. The total capacity of the dam is 9.5 km3, installed capacity is 1,450 MW and spillway capacity is 84,949 m3/s. 86.2 lakh cubic meters of concrete are used to build this dam. The power generation capacity of the dam is 1,450MW of which 57 percent will be given to Madhya Pradesh, 27 percent to Maharashtra, and 16 percent to Gujarat and Rajasthan are receiving water and power provided from the dam.
The dam has a total of 30 gates and is the largest dam in the country with a height of 163 meters, which is the highest dam in the country. 43,600 crores were spent on the entire Sardar Sarovar Project. 86.20 lakh cubic meters of concrete were used to make it. The dam has a total of 30 gates and each door weighs 450 tonnes. The water storage capacity of the dam is 47.3 lakh cubic liters.
Courtesy - India Infrastructures Facts | YouTube
4 Indian states Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, and Rajasthan were to be benefited from this project
4 states Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, and Rajasthan benefit from the Sardar Sarovar Dam. The main power plant houses of the dam with six 200 MW Francis pump-turbines generates electricity.
The Sardar Sarovar Dam provides irrigation benefits to 18.45 lac hectares of the area comprising 3112 villages of seventy-three talukas in fifteen districts of Gujarat.
Narmada canal is a 458 km contour canal-lined at the Gujarat -Rajasthan border and the biggest lined irrigation canal in the world. After crossing 486 kilometers in Gujarat, the Narmada canal enters Rajasthan near Shilu. It was meant to irrigate 610,000 acres in 233 villages of Jalore and Barmer and provide drinking water to 1,336 villages of Rajasthan.
Apart from this, the solar power plant is built over a 3.6-kilometer range of the canal of the Sardar Sarovar project and comprises 33,816 solar photovoltaic panels making it useful for the neighboring villages to get power.
Things to Do near Sardar Sarovar Dam
Shoolpaneshwar Wildlife Sanctuary
Ninai Waterfall
Zarwani Eco Campsite
Zarwani Waterfall
Tent City Narmada
Vishal Khadi Eco Campsite
Sardar Sarovar Dam Location
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