Introduction
- The Sardar Sarovar Dam is a gravitydam on the Narmada River near Navagam, Gujarat in India.
- It is the largest dam and part of the Narmada Valley Project, a large Hydraulic engineering project involving the construction of a series of large irrigation and hydroelectric multi-purpose dams on the Narmada river.
History
The plan for the harnessing the river for irrigation and power generation in the Narmada basin was initiated in 1946. Seven projects including the Bharuch project were identified during the initial Survey and 4 projects Bharuch (Gujarat), Bargi, Tawa and Punasa in Madhya Pradesh were given top priority for investigation. After the completion of investigation, the proposed dam at Gora in Gujarat with the full reservoir level 161ft (49.08m) was selected and the foundation stone was laid by late Prime Minister, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru on 5th April, 1961.
Purpose of the Project
- Gravity dam on Narmada river near Navgam, Gujarat.
- Purpose-hydroelectric and irrigation.
- Aim-irrigate more than 18000 sq.km most of it drought prone areas of Kutch and Saurashtra.
- Total installed capacity- 1450MW.
- The project aims at supplying 3571MLD of drinking water (2900MLD for domestic consumption & 671 MLD for industrial consumption) to 8215 villages & 135 towns in Gujarat.
- Aims to provide drinking water facilities to a population of about 13.71 lakh in 1107 villages & two town in Jallore & Barmer districts of Rajasthan.
Project at a glance
- Main dam- 1210m long, 163m high from the deepest foundation level.
- Designed live storage capacity of the reservoir 5860MCM (4.75 million acre feet).
- Irrigation- 1.905 million Ha (1.8 million hector in Gujarat benefitting 1 million farmers).
- Drinking water- 9633 villages and 131 towns (29 million people).
- Hydropower- 1450MW installed capacity (1 billion KWH every year).
- Canal Network- Approximately 75000km length within Gujarat.
Benefits of project
- Irrigation
- Drinking Water
- Power
- Flood Protection
- Wild Life
- Additional Production
The Narmada River & Basin
- The Narmada the largest west largest west flowing river of the Penisula, rises near Amarkantak range of mountains in Madhya Pradesh. It is the fifth largest river in the country and the largest one in Gujarat. It traverse Madhya Pradesh, Maharastra and Gujarat and meets the Gulf of Cambay.
- The total basin area of the river is 97410 square km comprising 85858 square km in Madhya Pradesh, 1658 square km in Maharastra and 9894 square km in Gujarat.
Components of Projects
- Sardar Sarovar Reservoir
- Sardar Sarovar Dam
- Hydro Power
- Main Canal
- Canal Distribution Systems and their operations
- Command Area Development
Benefits
- World’s largest man made fresh water reservoir in the sea.
- Highest importance and priority to irrigation and drinking water for Saurastra and central Gujarat region.
- The reservoir will have the storage more than double the Sardar Sarovar capacity.
- 54lakh ha land in 39 talukas of 6 districts of Saurastra region will get irrigation benefits facility including rejuvenation of rivers. More than 60 existing dams will get permanently filled up with water.
- Wind and solar energy will be generated which can also be used for lifting fresh water from the reservoir to the canal.
- Bhavnagar port will get revived which will result into speedy development of the region.
- There will be large saving in travel time and fuel due to reduction in distance by about 200km between Bhavnagar to Surat-Mumbai.