Author: Uday Mahurkar
Publication: India Today
Date: September 9, 2002
Introduction: After years of litigation,
the release of Narmada waters to Sabarmati brings with it the hope of rich
agricultural yields and a better life
For many in Ahmedabad, the past
few months have been a nightmare. But on August 28, dreams flowed along
with the river's current-literally-when colourful boats and thousands of
diyas floated in the till recently parched and putrid Sabarmati river.
It was a sight witnessed perhaps only by the older generation in Ahmedabad.
In a celebration of Narmada's gift to its "sister" Sabarmati, thousands
of people thronged the river banks to join Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra
Modi and Pramukh Swami Maharaj to herald the beginning of the festive season-no
matter that it is a few months too early. The merriment was made possible
by the diversion of water to Sabarmati from the overflowing Narmada dam,
225 km away, a few days ago. Slogans like "Narmade, Sarvade" (O Narmada,
our lifeline) rent the air as firecrackers lit up the sky in myriad colours.
The spectacle was reminiscent of
a promise made by two water experts-Dr K.L. Rao and Captain Dastur-over
three decades ago. They had proposed to link India's major rivers, from
the Brahmaputra, Ganga and Yamuna to the Krishna, Narmada and Godavari,
through a network of canals. It was supposed to be their answer to the
twin menace of droughts and floods, and would meet the country's economic
needs through water conservation. Rao's project was called "Water Grid"
while Dastur's "The Garland Canal System". Unfortunately, prohibitive costs
of implementation rendered both the schemes unfeasible.
After years of litigation and mass
movements, 10,000 cusecs of water was judiciously released from the Sardar
Sarovar project and began to flow into the parched rivers, canals and lakes
in water-starved central Gujarat. Farmers as well as people in urban areas
who have learnt to live with water scarcity celebrated the harvest of water.
The delight in the faces of the farmers, who had lost all hopes of a good
crop after yet another year of scanty rainfall, was discernible in over
1,000 villages and 25-odd towns in Saurashtra-some as far as 500 km from
the Narmada dam. Continuous supply of water for drinking and for the sun-dried
fields was finally assured.
For farmers like Chandubhai Patel
and his son Ramesh of Bhadka village near Matar in central Gujarat, the
Narmada's water was a godsend. They could look forward to a normal harvest.
They own over eight hectares of land but were virtually living in penury
for the past three years. Scanty rainfall had rendered even their borewells
bone dry. So when the Narmada waters started whirling across the Mahi branch
canal near their homestead, their excitement knew no bounds. "We thank
Goddess Narmade for saving our lives," says a grateful Chandubhai. "Otherwise
we were doomed."
In many other villages, as soon
as farmers saw the Narmada waters flooding the canals, they got down to
work as if to make up for the time lost gazing at the sky expecting to
see clouds carrying rain. They began sowing paddy while children splashed
about in the canal. The effect of the surging waters on the women was unexpected.
The devout among them demanded that the waters of the Narmada, considered
among the holiest rivers in India after the Ganga, reach their doorstep.
Two years after the Narmada Control
Authority allowed Sardar Sarovar Narmada Nigam Ltd (SSNNL) to construct
two irrigation bypass tunnels (IBPTs), water started flowing into the Narmada
Main Canal (NMC) even though the first IBPT is yet to be completed. Construction
of the NMC, at many places as wide as 103 m, is complete till Kalol in
central Gujarat, 263 km from the dam. Work on the branch canals is going
on. By next summer, the Narmada is expected to meet the drinking water
needs of 2,500 villages and dozens of towns in Saurashtra. And the release
of its water in as many as seven rivers besides the canals has already
ensured irrigation of 1.25 lakh hectares of land in central Gujarat and
some areas of Saurashtra. Says Bhupendrasinh Chudasama, chairman, SSNNL:
"We have tried to revive seven rivers with Narmada's water. We will revive
many more when the dam height increases."
When the dam and its entire canal
network is complete, it will irrigate over 17 lakh hectares of land. In
a few months from now, when the height of the dam is raised to 110 m, it
will also start generating power, a major share of which will go to Madhya
Pradesh and Maharashtra. Says Modi: "We have promised to share power in
the quickest possible time. But for that Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra
will have to cooperate with Gujarat whole-heartedly in taking the height
of the dam to 110 m." It seemed a mild criticism, specially of Madhya Pradesh,
where the issue of rehabilitation of people in submergence areas had delayed
the completion of the project. In Gujarat, even as court cases filed by
Medha Patkar's Narmada Bachao Andolan held up construction of the main
dam for several years, work on the canals wasn't disrupted. So when the
Supreme Court lifted the stay three years ago, the canals were almost ready
to receive the Narmada flow.
The credit justifiably goes to Jainarayan
Vyas, the Narmada development minister in the Keshubhai Patel government
(1998-2000). When the Supreme Court placed limits on the dam height, Vyas
and Keshubhai managed to get the Centre to sanction construction of IBPTs
to divert the dam water to the main canal. Just how Narmada has changed
the scene is evident in the Fatehwadi canal command area in Ahmedabad district.
The canal used to get water from a small barrage on the Sabarmati. But
as the flow in the Sabarmati reduced, the Government stopped releasing
water into Fatehwadi. In the drought-like situation that ensued, the crop
loss was estimated at Rs 1,000 crore. Most of the 100 rice mills in the
area closed down too.
When water started flowing into
the Sabarmati river again, the Government decided to release some of it
into the Fatehwadi canal. Already 17,000 of the 33,000 hectares of farmland
have come under cultivation. With an assured water supply, the people living
around Fatehwadi are hopeful that the rice mills will also revive.
In many ways, the dam project and
its network of canals is an engineering marvel. At several points along
the main canal, which has the capacity to carry 40,000 cusecs of water,
the dam has been linked to rivers and canals, which in turn intersect with
smaller dams. So as long as Madhya Pradesh gets the showers, the people
of Gujarat will continue to laugh their way to their paddy fields despite
the scorching heat at home.
