Sardar Sarovar Dam
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Sardar Sarovar Dam (SSD), on the Indian Narmada river, is
located in the village of Kevadia in the state of Gujarat. It is one of the
largest and most controversial interstate, multipurpose river valley
infrastructure development projects in the country. The Sardar Sarovar Project
(SSP) also consists of auxiliary works and a 1,450MW power complex.
The Sardar Sarovar Dam is
a gravity dam on the Narmada river.
near navagam, Gujarat in India. Four Indian states, Gujarat, Madhya
Pradesh, Maharashtra and Rajasthan, receive water and electricity supplied from
the dam. The foundation stone of the project was laid out by Prime Minister
Jawaharlal Nehru on 5 April 1961. The project took form in 1979 as part of a
development scheme funded by the World Bank through their International Bank
for Reconstruction and Development, to increase
irrigation and produce hydroelectricity, using a loan of US$200 million. The
construction for dam begun in 1987, but the project was stalled by the Supreme
Court of India in 1995 in the backdrop of Narmada
Bachao Andolan over concerns of displacement of people. In 2000–01 the
project was revived but with a lower height of 110.64 metres under directions
from SC, which was later increased in 2006 to 121.92 meters and 138.98 meters
in 2017.
HOW TO REACH:
By Air: Vadodara
is the nearest Airport.
By Train:There
is no direct connection from Ahmedabad to Sardar Sarovar Dam.
However, you can take the train to Vadodara Jn then take the taxi
to Sardar Sarovar Dam. Alternatively, you can take the bus to Baroda then
take the taxi to Sardar Sarovar Dam.
By Road:The distance between Ahmedabad and Sardar
Sarovar Dam is 179 km. The road distance is 199.3 km.
The Narmada
River & Basin:
The Narmada, the largest west flowing river of the
Peninsula, 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
traverses Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Gujarat and meets the Gulf of Cambay.
The total length of the river from source to sea is 1312 kilometers (815 miles)
while the length up to dam site is 1163 kilometers. (723 miles). The width of
the river channel at dam site during high floods is 488 meter (1600 feet) and
that during summer is 45.70 meter. (150 feet). The maximum recorded flood on
7th September 1994 was 70,847 cumec (2.5 million cusecs) while minimum recorded
flow in summer was 8.5 cumec (300 cusecs.) The dam is designed for 87,000 cumec
(3.07 million cusecs) Flood.
The total basin area of the river is 97,410 square kilometer
comprising 85,858 square kilometer in Madhya Pradesh, 1658 square kilometer in
Maharashtra and 9894 square kilometer in Gujarat. The drainage area up to dam
site is 88,000 square kilometer. The mean annual rainfall in the basin is 112
centimeters.
The total basin area of the river
is 97,410 square kilometer comprising 85,858 square kilometer in Madhya
Pradesh, 1658 square kilometer in Maharashtra and 9894 square kilometer in
Gujarat. The drainage area up to dam site is 88,000 square kilometer. The mean
annual rainfall in the basin is 112 centimeters. The annual run of the dam site
at 75 percentage of dependability is 27.22 MAF. The World Bank computed the
yield of 28.57 MAF while the yield computed in May 1992 by the Central Water
Commission, Government of India is of 26.60 MAF, i.e. about 27.00 MAF. The
utilisation of Narmada River basin today is hardly about 10%. Thus water of the
Narmada continue to flow to the sea unsued.
Sardar Sarovar Dam (SSD) specifications and
capacities
It occupies an area of 37,000ha
with an average length of 214km and width of 1.7km. The river catchment area
above the dam site is 88,000 square kilometres. It has a spillway discharging
capacity of 87,000 cubic metres a second.
The dam and the reservoir
periphery have been installed with advanced seismological instruments for
calculating the stresses. Seven chute spillway radial gates and 23 service
spillway gates are installed for flood control. The full reservoir level of the
SSD is 138.6m, the maximum water level is 140.2m and minimum draw down level is
110.6m. The tail water level is about 25.9m.
One of the 30 dams planned on
river Narmada, Sardar Sarovar Dam (SSD) is the largest structure to be built.
It is one of the largest dams in the world. It is a 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. Following a number of controversial cases before
the Supreme Court of India (1999, 2000, 2003), by 2014 the Narmada
Control Authority had approved a series of changes in the final height –
and the associated displacement caused by the increased reservoir, from the
original 80 m (260 ft) to a final 163 m (535 ft) from
foundation. The project will irrigate more than 18,000 km2 (6,900 sq mi),
most of it in drought prone areas of Kutch and Saurashtra.
The dam's main power plant houses six 200 MW Francis Pump-turbine to
generate electricity and include a pumped-storage capability.
Additionally, a power plant on the intake for the main canal contains five
50 MW Kaplan turbine-generators. The total installed capacity of the
power facilities is 1,450 MW.
Benefits of Project
IRRIGATION: The Sardar Sarovar Project will provide
irrigation facilities to 18.45 lac ha. of land, covering 3112 villages of 73
talukas in 15 districts of Gujarat. It will also irrigate 2,46,000 ha. of land
in the strategic desert districts of Barmer and Jallore in Rajasthan and 37,500
ha. in the tribal hilly tract of Maharashtra through lift. About 75% of the
command area in Gujarat is drought prone while entire command in Rajasthan is
drought prone. Assured water supply will soon make this area drought proof.
FLOOD
PROTECTION: It will also provide flood protection to riverine reaches
measuring 30,000 ha. covering 210 villages and Bharuch city and a population of
4.0 lac in Gujarat.
POWER:
There are two power houses viz. River Bed Power House and Canal Head Power House with an installed capacity of 1200 MW and 250 MW respectively. The power would be shared by three states - Madhya Pradesh - 57%, Maharashtra - 27% and Gujarat 16%. This will provide a useful peaking power to western grid of the country which has very limited hydel power production at present. A series of micro hydel power stations are also planned on the branch canals where convenient falls are available.
There are two power houses viz. River Bed Power House and Canal Head Power House with an installed capacity of 1200 MW and 250 MW respectively. The power would be shared by three states - Madhya Pradesh - 57%, Maharashtra - 27% and Gujarat 16%. This will provide a useful peaking power to western grid of the country which has very limited hydel power production at present. A series of micro hydel power stations are also planned on the branch canals where convenient falls are available.
WILD LIFE: Wild
life sanctuaries viz. "Shoolpaneshewar wild life sanctuary" on left
Bank, Wild Ass Sanctuary in little Rann of Kachchh, Black Buck National Park at
Velavadar, Great Indian Bustard Sanctuary in Kachchh, Nal Sarovar Bird
Sanctuary and Alia Bet at the mouth of River will be benefited.
DRINKING
WATER SUPPLY: A special allocation of 0.86 MAF of water has been made to
provide drinking water to 173 urban centres and 9490 villages within and
out-side command in Gujarat for present population of 28 million and prospective
population of over 40 million by the year 2021. All the villages and urban
centres of arid region of Saurashtra and Kachchh and all "no source"
villages and the villages affected by salinity and fluoride in North Gujarat
will be benefited. Water supply requirement of several industries will also be
met from the project giving a boost to all-round production.
