Though 11 hydro-electric power houses installed at the Narmada dam are yet to become fully operational, generation since August 2004 from five power houses have already produced 216 crore units of power worth Rs 432 crore. According to executive engineer Ashok Gajjar (inset), a total of 3.48 crore units of power worth Rs. 7 crore would be generated per day once the dam height is raised to 121.92 metres. Annually, that amounts to power worth Rs 2500 crore.

SYED KHALIQUE AHMED

THE RELIEF

‘After its Action Taken Report was rejected in Sept, MP did rehab work on a war footing’

MILIND GHATWAI

BHOPAL

BOTH Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat describe the Narmada as their lifeline. But the Sardar Sarovar Project invokes different responses from them simply because Madhya Pradesh’s gains are little compared to Gujarat’s. The latter has already benefited from the project in terms of irrigation, power and drinking water and has plans ready for spin-offs like tourism and water sports.

While Gujarat has always insisted on the dam reaching its full height, Madhya Pradesh not so long ago argued that it would settle for a much smaller dam. When the Congress was in power, the state was so tardy in meeting compulsions that it was often accused of tacitly supporting the cause of the Narmada Bachao Andolan (NBA). Now, when the BJP is ruling both states, it is obvious the reasons are not entirely political.

Unlike Narendra Modi and Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh has more explaining to do, and lesser time too. Here, as many as 193 villages will be partly submerged when the dam reaches its full height compared to the 33 in Gujarat. The benefits, set against these concerns, do not exactly make an equation.

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