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

A sector under siege? War and real estate: Navigating uncertainty in India's expanding market

I was a little surprised when I received an email alert from a top real estate consultant, Anarock Group , titled "Exploring War’s Effects on Indian Real Estate—When Conflict Meets Concrete," authored by its regional director and head of research, Dr. Prashant Thakur. I had thought that the business would wholeheartedly support what is considered a strong response to the dastardly terrorist attack in Pahalgam, Operation Sindoor.

Tracking a lost link: Soviet-era legacy of Gujarati translator Atul Sawani

The other day, I received a message from a well-known activist, Raju Dipti, who runs an NGO called Jeevan Teerth in Koba village, near Gujarat’s capital, Gandhinagar. He was seeking the contact information of Atul Sawani, a translator of Russian books—mainly political and economic—into Gujarati for Progress Publishers during the Soviet era. He wanted to collect and hand over scanned soft copies, or if possible, hard copies, of Soviet books translated into Gujarati to Arvind Gupta, who currently lives in Pune and is undertaking the herculean task of collecting and making public soft copies of Soviet books that are no longer available in the market, both in English and Indian languages.

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.

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."

When Pakistanis whispered: ‘end military rule’ — A Moscow memoir

During the recent anti-terror operation inside Pakistan by the Government of India, called Operation Sindoor — a name some feminists consider patently patriarchal, even though it’s officially described as a tribute to the wives of the 26 husbands killed in the terrorist strike — I was reminded of my Moscow stint, which lasted for seven long years, from 1986 to 1993.

Environmental concern? Global NGO leads campaign urging banks to cut ties with Odisha steel project

A decade after the withdrawal of the South Korean multinational POSCO from Odisha following large-scale protests, questions remain about whether India-based JSW Steel, which took over the project, can successfully revive the 13.2 million tonnes per annum (MTPA) steel plant and coal-fired power plant. POSCO initiated the project in 2005 but exited in 2017 due to sustained local opposition.

Adani Group a key player in Indo-Israel defence cooperation: Tel Aviv daily

Said to be one of the most influential Israeli dailies, "Haaretz" (literally: News of the Land) has identified the Adani Group—known to be close to Prime Minister Narendra Modi—as one of the key Indian business houses engaged in defence cooperation with Israel. Pointing out that India supplied the Israeli military with Hermes 900 drones, the daily reported that this advanced aerial vehicle came off “the production line in a factory set up in Hyderabad, as part of the cooperation between the Israeli Elbit and India's Adani Group.”

Despite Hindutva hold claim, 18% Hindus in US don't want to be identified with Hinduism!

Scanning through news items on the Google News app on my mobile — which is what I do almost every morning — I came across a story published on India.com, which I found somewhat misleading. The headline said, "Muslim population drops significantly in THIS country as over 25% Muslims leave Islam due to…, the country is…"

Beyond Indus water treaty suspension: A 'nationalist' push despite harsh climate realities

The suspension of the Indus Water Treaty (IWT) appears to have pushed the middle classes, at least in Prime Minister Narendra Modi's home state, Gujarat, further towards what the powers-that-be would consider—a "positive" direction. As usual, during my morning walk, I tried talking with a neighbour about what impact it would have. Ignoring what is widely considered a "security lapse," this person, who had just returned after buying milk, compared the Modi move with Trump.

Search This Blog