By Rajiv Shah
Has the work for the Garudeshwar weir, proposed about 12 km downstream of the Narmada dam, begun without necessary environmental and social impact assessment clearance of the Narmada Control Authority (NCA)? It would seem so, if one looks closely at the letter written by a senior member of the NCA to its chairman. The letter states, the weir would adversely impact downstream fishing activities as also the environment, about which “no assessment” appears to have been made so far.
Has the work for the Garudeshwar weir, proposed about 12 km downstream of the Narmada dam, begun without necessary environmental and social impact assessment clearance of the Narmada Control Authority (NCA)? It would seem so, if one looks closely at the letter written by a senior member of the NCA to its chairman. The letter states, the weir would adversely impact downstream fishing activities as also the environment, about which “no assessment” appears to have been made so far.
Addressed to Dr V Rajagopalan, chairman, Environmental
Sub-Group (ESG) of the NCA, and secretary, Ministry of Environment and
Forests, Government of India, this official, Shekhar Singh, who is member, ESG, has
expressed surprise over the Government of India and Gujarat government decision
to start work for construction of the Garudeshwar weir, which is part of the
Sardar Sarovar Project on the Narmada river without, obtaining necessary
clearances.
The construction of the weir has begun
despite the fact that the NCA has “not cleared” its environmental and social
impact, it states. Singh says, he was forced to write the
letter in his capacity as a member of the ESG of the NCA to draw Dr Rajagopalan’s attention on the issue because
the ESG was “mandated to look into environment aspects of all the components of
the Sardar Sarovar Project.”
He adds, Garudeshwar weir, to be built 12
km downstream of the SSP dam with a live storage capacity of 32.9 million cubic
meters is a component of the Sardar Sarovar Project, was envisaged by the
Narmada Water Disputes Tribunal Award of 1979.”
However, as far as he knows, “the
environmental and social impacts of construction and operation of Garudeshwar
weir (GW) have never been brought before the ESG of NCA.”
Singh says, in his estimation, “the
construction and operation of the weir will have significant social and
environmental impacts, since it will entail a reservoir of about 12 km in length
and unknown width and submergence area.”
He underlines, “The weir will have the potential
of affecting the fisheries in the immediately surrounding areas and also of affecting
the downstream river and its biodiversity, and other related aspects. This is
especially because the weir will control the flow of water and silt downstream.”
According to Singh, “However, I do not know
whether there has been a comprehensive assessment of the environmental and
social impacts of the weir and its contribution to the cumulative impact of all
the projects and activities in the area. And if there has been, I do not
believe that this has been put up to the ESG for its approval.”
Referring to the Annual Report of the
Sardar Sarovar Construction Advisory Committee for the year 2011-12, particularly
pages 54-55, Singh says that the report suggest it was “decided in the 79th
meeting of Sardar Sarovar Construction Advisory Committee (SSCAC) on March 16,
2012 that evaluation bids for construction of Garudeshwar weir committee
decided to approve the recommendation of the PSC to accord approval of the
revised cost estimates of Garudeshwar Weir amounting to Rs 438.18 crores.”
Singh adds, “It further decided to award
the work of construction of Garudeswar weir as recommended by the SSCAC's permanent standing committee in its
103rd meeting to the lowest bidder Rithwik Project Pvt. Ltd, Hyderabad
amounting to Rs.299,43,36,391.50 (23.0884% below the estimate) for the construction
of Garudeshwar weir subject to the
condition that an additional performance guarantee for the difference
equivalent to estimated amount and quoted amount i.e. Rs 7 crore is to be
obtained from the bidder prior to issuance of work order towards lower rate for
gate works, which shall be released only after the completion of the entire
gate work.”
Based on this, the work was recommended to be
taken up by the Gujarat government “in compliance of all statutory clearances”, asking it to "to take further
follow up actions.”
Meanwhile, expressing concern that “the work of
construction of the GW has begun on the ground”, Singh emphasises, “If this is
correct, I find this problematic as ESG has not yet cleared the construction of
this weir.” Based on this, he has asked chairman,
ESG to:
1. Ask the Government of Gujarat (GoG) to immediately
stop construction of the GW. All other activities related to the GW should also
be stopped.
2. Ask Gujarat government and the Sardar
Sarovar Narmada Nigam Ltd to submit the full feasibility report, environment
and social impact assessment report including impacts during construction and
operation of the weir to the ESG and seek clearance of the ESG for this work.
3. Ask Gujarat government not to start any
work in this regard till the ESG clears this.
Opposition to the weir has come amidst efforts to convert the whole region from Kevadia colony, where the Narmada dam is situated, to Garudeshwar, about 12 km stretch, into a tourism hotspot. "People from about 70-odd villages around Garudeshwar have decided not to accept the decision on weir lying down. They do not accept the proposal of the Kevadia Area Development Authority's proposal to convert the region into a tourism spot", Prajapati has said in a statement.
A protest rally to be organised at Indravarna village on October 2 will particularly highlight the plight of the six villages, whose land was taken away for the Sardar Sarover project. The people of these villages feel that the land was allocated by them was for the project, and not for any tourism purpose. Besides, they have not been paid compensation on par with other oustees of the Narmada project.
Villagers to protest on October 2
Meanwhile, a senior environmentalist, Rohit Prajapati of the Prayavaran Suraksha Samiti, Vadodara, has said that despite the letter, written in March 2013, the Gujarat government has begun the construction the Garudeshwar weir without any of the nearby villagers having knowledge about it. " Prajapati has said, an environmental public hearing is a must, without which the construction cannot begin.Opposition to the weir has come amidst efforts to convert the whole region from Kevadia colony, where the Narmada dam is situated, to Garudeshwar, about 12 km stretch, into a tourism hotspot. "People from about 70-odd villages around Garudeshwar have decided not to accept the decision on weir lying down. They do not accept the proposal of the Kevadia Area Development Authority's proposal to convert the region into a tourism spot", Prajapati has said in a statement.
A protest rally to be organised at Indravarna village on October 2 will particularly highlight the plight of the six villages, whose land was taken away for the Sardar Sarover project. The people of these villages feel that the land was allocated by them was for the project, and not for any tourism purpose. Besides, they have not been paid compensation on par with other oustees of the Narmada project.
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