Skip to main content

It's official, Bharbhut barrage is for corporate sector: Industry to get lion's share from stored water

Narmada river
It is finally official. The proposed barrage at Bharbhut, which is to be built for Rs 4,000 crore on the mouth of Narmada river, and for whom an environmental public hearing is expected to take place on July 19 in Bharuch district, is slated to serve the corporate houses, who have heavily invested in the Bharuch-Dahej region. This is clear from the data provided by the state-sponsored report, "Environmental Impact and Risk Assessment for the Proposed Barrage Across River Narmada near Bhadbhut, Dist. Bharuch", by top consulting firm National Environmental Engineering Research Institute.
The study, which which has just been released, says, fresh river water availability for domestic usage will be 60 million cubic metres (MCM), for irrigation it will be 10 MCM which will be mainly "for revival of defunct lift irrigation schemes of the area" for irrigating a command area of just 1,136 hectares (ha) area, and for "industrial purposes" it will be a whopping 200 MCM to "facilitate speedier infrastructure development of the region."
The areas that would need to be covered for irrigation are "two defunct minor lift irrigation schemes namely Angareshwar LI scheme (568 ha) and Zanor LI scheme (568 ha) having total command area of 1136 ha. These schemes will be revived by the water storage at the proposed Bharbhut barrage project." Of this, Kharif area is 675 ha and and Rabi area is 345 ha.
Importantly, for lifting water, the farmers would have to shell out money from their pocket. The study makes it clear, "The water is to be lifted by the farmers at their own cost. Also, no canal system is envisaged and hence seepage from canal is ruled out."
Significantly, the total agricultural area of the district is 3,30,302 ha. The crops which are irrigated are paddy, Jowar, tur, udad, groundnut, maize, soyabean in the in Kharif season covering an area of about 2,80,000 ha. The crops like wheat, grams, vegetables are sown in Rabi season in an area of 80,000 ha.Because of salinity ingress, productivity in the region is low. The state "expects" productivity to go up once the barrage is constructed and fresh water is stored in the area between the Narmada dam and the barrage.
The justification for giving huge such amount of water to the corporate sector, including the upcoming Petroleum, Chemical and Petrochemical Investment Region (PCPIR), Dahaj, which includes a special economic zone, too, is that it would "earn" the state revenue.
The study says, "As it is proposed to undertake the construction and operation of the proposed project on private public partnership (PPP) mode, revenue generation from the sale of water to industries is assessed at Rs 300 crores at the start and at Rs 500 crore" later.
The study seeks to explain, the "gross storage is about 500 MCM, and the "the reservoir water is planned to be utilised for domestic, industrial and irrigation purposes." Explaining the reason for not giving much water for irrigation, it says, "The agricultural area on both the banks of the river, except area at higher elevation along the bank, are having irrigation facility through Ukai Right bank Canal system on left bank of Narmada river and Narmada Canal system on right bank."

Comments

TRENDING

Dalit rights and political tensions: Why is Mevani at odds with Congress leadership?

While I have known Jignesh Mevani, one of the dozen-odd Congress MLAs from Gujarat, ever since my Gandhinagar days—when he was a young activist aligned with well-known human rights lawyer Mukul Sinha’s organisation, Jan Sangharsh Manch—he became famous following the July 2016 Una Dalit atrocity, in which seven members of a family were brutally assaulted by self-proclaimed cow vigilantes while skinning a dead cow, a traditional occupation among Dalits.  

Powering pollution, heating homes: Why are Delhi residents opposing incineration-based waste management

While going through the 50-odd-page report Burning Waste, Warming Cities? Waste-to-Energy (WTE) Incineration and Urban Heat in Delhi , authored by Chythenyen Devika Kulasekaran of the well-known advocacy group Centre for Financial Accountability, I came across a reference to Sukhdev Vihar — a place where I lived for almost a decade before moving to Moscow in 1986 as the foreign correspondent of the daily Patriot and weekly Link .

Boeing 787 under scrutiny again after Ahmedabad crash: Whistleblower warnings resurface

A heart-wrenching tragedy has taken place in Ahmedabad. As widely reported, a Boeing 787 Dreamliner plane crashed shortly after taking off from the city’s airport, currently operated by India’s top tycoon, Gautam Adani. The aircraft was carrying 230 passengers and 12 crew members.  As expected, the crash has led to an outpouring of grief across the country. At the same time, there have been demands for the resignation of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah, and the Civil Aviation Minister.

Ahmedabad's civic chaos: Drainage woes, waterlogging, and the illusion of Olympic dreams

In response to my blog on overflowing gutter lines at several spots in Ahmedabad's Vejalpur, a heavily populated area, a close acquaintance informed me that it's not just the middle-class housing societies that are affected by the nuisance. Preeti Das, who lives in a posh locality in what is fashionably called the SoBo area, tells me, "Things are worse in our society, Applewood."

Global NGO slams India for media clampdown during conflict, downplays Pakistan

A global civil rights group, Civicus has taken strong exception to how critical commentaries during the “recent conflict” with Pakistan were censored in India, with journalists getting “targeted”. I have no quarrel with the Civicus view, as the facts mentioned in it are all true.

Remembering Vijay Rupani: A quiet BJP leader who listened beyond party lines

Late evening on June 12, a senior sociologist of Indian origin, who lives in Vienna, asked me a pointed question: Of the 241 persons who died as a result of the devastating plane crash in Ahmedabad the other day, did I know anyone? I had no hesitation in telling her: former Gujarat chief minister Vijay Rupani, whom I described to her as "one of the more sensible persons in the BJP leadership."

Whither SCOPE? Twelve years on, Gujarat’s official English remains frozen in time

While writing my previous blog on how and why Narendra Modi went out of his way to promote English when he was Gujarat chief minister — despite opposition from people in the Sangh Parivar — I came across an interesting write-up by Aakar Patel, a well-known name among journalists and civil society circles.

A conman, a demolition man: How 'prominent' scribes are defending Pritish Nandy

How to defend Pritish Nandy? That’s the big question some of his so-called fans seem to ponder, especially amidst sharp criticism of his alleged insensitivity during his journalistic career. One such incident involved the theft and publication of the birth certificate of Masaba Gupta, daughter of actor Neena Gupta, in the Illustrated Weekly of India, which Nandy was editing at the time. He reportedly did this to uncover the identity of Masaba’s father.

Why India’s renewable energy sector struggles under 2,735 compliance hurdles

Recently, during a conversation with an industry representative, I was told how easy it is to set up a startup in Singapore compared to India. This gentleman, who had recently visited Singapore, explained that one of the key reasons Indians living in the Southeast Asian nation prefer establishing startups there is because the government is “extremely supportive” when it comes to obtaining clearances. “They don’t want to shift operations to India due to the large number of bureaucratic hurdles,” he remarked.