Work on raising the height of the Sardar Sarovar dam will continue. The Supreme Court today refused to grant the Narmada Bachao Andolan’s request for staying the raising of the height from 110 to 121 m and left it to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to find a solution to the controversy over relief and rehabilitation of the project-affected families.

“We hope and expect the Prime Minister will be able to take a decision on or before July 3 and the decision taken shall be placed on record,” said a bench of Chief Justice Y K Sabharwal, Justice K G Balakrishnan and Justice S B Sinha. The next hearing is on July 7.

The order came after Additional Solicitor General Gopal Subramanium told the court that the PM had constituted a panel comprising former Comptroller and Auditor General V K Shunglu, ex JNU Vice Chancellor G K Chaddha and Convenor of NGO Loksatta Dr Jay Prakash Narayan to oversee the rehabilitation work.

The committee, he said, had tied up with National Sample Survey Organisation and constituted teams which would collect data of the affected people and status of relief works.

He assured the court that the committee’s survey would not be restricted to any sample and would cover almost the entire area where rehabilitation was being done.

On the need for the survey, he said, “We must have some empirical data and it should be available by middle of June. That would show if relief and rehabilitation can be completed by June 30. Based on that, the Government may take an appropriate decision.”

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