The Narmada Bachao Andolan (NBA) has said that the statement given by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Parliament on Sardar Sarovar dam is “false”, pointing out, though the Sardar Sarovar Dam was meant to provide drinking and irrigation water to farmers, especially in the dry areas of Kutch, Saurashtra and Rajasthan, this is not happening.
Blaming the Congress for the delay in building the Sardar Sarovar dam, Modi had said, “Sardar Sarovar Dam was the brainchild of Sardar Patel. But, work on this dam kept getting delayed. As Gujarat chief minister, I had to sit on hunger strike for this project. After the NDA came to power, the pace of work increased significantly and it is benefiting many people."
Refusing to buy the argument, NBA said, instead of farmers, as many as 481 companies are being supplied water and will be future beneficiaries. In the name of satisfying farmers’ needs, the Gujarat government wants to fill up the dam up to 139 meters, which is the full reservoir level, and for this it wants Madhya Pradesh to release water in Narmada river, it added.
However, NBA added, neither Madhya Pradesh nor Maharashtra are getting any benefit from the dam. While 57 percent of power produced at the dam should be given to Madhya Pradesh and 27 per cent to Maharashtra, they are not being supplied any power.
In 2019, only 223 million units of electricity was generated from January to May, which is the lowest in 15 years at a time when Madhya Pradesh is facing acute scarcity of electricity, NBA said, adding, in 2014, 2,019 million units of electricity was produced, in 2015 it was 2,149 million units, in 2016 it went up to 3,200 million units.
NBA added, it is difficult to understand as to why power production has decrease even after closure down gates, taking the dam’s height to 139 metres from 121 metres.
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