Addressing a two-day meeting of national and international experts, who had gathered here to deliberate on six different aspects of the proposed Kalpasar project, Patel said a pre-feasibility study on the project had been conducted last year and five other studies would be undertaken before preparing a detailed feasibility report.

The Chief Minister said global tenders would soon be floated to conduct these studies. It is proposed to complete the studies within nine months. The Kalpasar project will supplement the present irrigation facilities and also increase availability of water in the State.

The six aspects to be covered in the studies include integration of existing irrigation projects with Kalpasar, improving water quality and pollution control, morphological study to check siltation problem, drainage, salt balance in reservoir and surrounding Bhal areas and techno-economic appraisal of tidal power generation.

The pre-feasibility report prepared by a Netherlands consultancy firm for the Gujarat Government, at a cost of Rs 13 crore, comprises seven volumes, while the other studies proposed to be undertaken by experts would cost about Rs 10 crore. A foreign expert will be paid $550-900 per day, while an Indian expert will be paid Rs 2,500-5,000 per day for carrying out the studies.

The project, at an estimated cost of Rs 40,000 crore, envisages a 63-km-long dam to be constructed between Ghogha and Hansot in the Gulf of Cambay, which will have a sweet water lake. A compartment is also proposed to be created for entry of sea water for tidal power generation. The lake will be spread over five lakh acres, forming the largest storage reservoir in India. Surplus water from Narmada, Mahi, Sabarmati and other rivers will be collected in the lake.

The Chief Minister claimed there would be no submergence of land or displacement of people due to the proposed Kalpasar project. The project is expected to help in generation of 5,000 MWs of tidal power, besides providing irrigation to 7.33 lakh hectares. The project will also help solve the drinking water problem in the region and serve as a bridge between Saurashtra and South Gujarat.