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On his 67th birthday, Modi dedicates Narmada dam to the nation

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday dedicated the ambitious Sardar Sarovar Dam project on Narmada river by announcing the completion of the dam construction and closing gates at the dam site in Kevadia Colony in South Gujarat.

Prime Minister, who was expected to reach Kevadiya Colony at around 9.15 am directly from Gandhinagar after receiving blessings of his mother Hira ba at Gandhinagar on his 68th birthday, had to take a detour due to bad weather. Instead, he landed in Dabhoi and travelled to Kevadiya Colony by car, reaching a little over an hour later.

Dubbed as ‘Lifeline of Gujarat’, the project has seen the water from Narmada river reach across Gujarat’s geography through a network of large canals and pipeline. Recently, the height of the Sardar Sarovar dam had been increased to 138.68 meters, taking the water storage capacity of the dam to 4.73 million acre-feet (MAF). This is expected to benefit the participating states Gujarat, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra. Other than water, the hydropower project at Narmada dam produces 1450 MW of power too.

On reaching Kevadiya on Sunday, Prime Minister performed religious rituals and dedicating the completed Sardar Sarovar Dam project, whose foundation stone was laid on April 5, 1961, by India’s first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru. The project has since undergone several upheavals before seeing the light of the day 56-years later.

As per data made available by the state government, drinking water would be supplied to 8221 villages, 159 towns and eight cities across the state. Dry rivers and water bodies across the state would be filled with Narmada water, 17.92 lakh hectares of land across 3125 villages would get irrigation benefit, with flood control benefits in 30,000 hectares in the state. Overall, 10 lakh farmers would get irrigation benefits and 4 crore people would benefit from drinking water supply.

Other than its economic importance, the Narmada project has been a huge political influence on state polity, one that no politician in the state can ignore, especially when Assembly elections are due in the state in coming three months.

The ruling BJP has tried to encash the mood towards Narmada project in the state by beginning a Narmada Rath Yatra across 8000 villages in the state. The yatra that began in the state over a fortnight ago culminated on Sunday at Kevadiya Colony with Prime Minister dedicating the project to the nation