We see a log floating in the middle of the Panchmuli pond in Kevadia, Gujarat. A closer look reveals it's a crocodile, the vehicle of Goddess Narmada who shares her name with Gujarat's most important river. They say, "Still waters run deep." None so much as the one that's contained in this pond, one of the many that have formed near the Sardar Sarovar Dam. A village died the day it was born. "But millions of people in Kutch and Saurashtra have benefited from the dam. This was barren land. It has now become fertile," notes Rajivbhai, our guide, pointing to the banana plantations nearby.
India's most controversial dam
We dwell on his comment as we take in the beauty of the surrounding Satpura hills. The Sardar Sarovar Dam has been in the news for over 40 years since Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru placed the foundation stone in 1961. The project only took form in 1979 as part of a development scheme to increase irrigation and produce hydroelectricity. With every new proposal to increase its height by a few metres (the initial proposed height was 49 metres while the current proposed height is 138 metres), the dam courts a fresh round of controversy.
The discord between the planners and Narmada Bachao Andolan, who are echoing the concerns of villagers and tribals who have been dislocated because of the project, is high. Little in the news speaks of the dam’s beauty, its reservoirs and canals teeming with carps and crocodiles and the dense forests that have replaced the once-barren hillocks.
Power house!
We take a ride in a bus through the 1.2 kilometre long tunnel that takes us deep into the riverbed. The bus stops at the river bed power house that resembles Mogambo's island in Mr India, with all its gizmos, forklifts, cable carts and engineers. We find six giant turbines before us (two each for Gujarat, Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh), which make 135 revolutions per minute to generate 200 MW of electricity. Poor rains this year haven’t given the turbines a chance to generate to their full capacity though.
Cable cars for concrete!
The 212-kilometre-long reservoir amidst the Satpura hills is simply breathtaking. The trickle of the Narmada downstream makes way for a huge water body on this side of the dam. This thing of beauty has come at a very high cost. It has washed away 103 villages in Madhya Pradesh, 19 in Gujarat and 36 in Maharashtra.
Our eyes catch the cables above the dam moving very slowly carrying bags. "What are those bags carrying?" "Concrete. There's a lot of construction going on," our guide says adding that the cost of transporting these cables from the Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust in Mumbai to the dam site cost 30 times more than the cable itself.
Tourist attraction
The Sardar Sarovar Nigam Limited has tried hard to make reservoir and the main canal an environment-friendly zone to attract tourists by providing for a tarmac road, potable water, fountains, refreshment and food counters, civic amenities, street-lights, benches, parks, information centres, temples (Shoolpaneshwar Mahadev Temple and Aditeshwar Mahadev Temple) and picnic spots. The place also offers many opportunities for trekking and jungle walks.
At the bridge over the main canal, we watch a bunch schoolkids cheering on as a heron ducks into the water to grab a fish. A vendor haplessly looks on as cows stick their noses into the pile of bhutta (boiled) she's just cooked. We spot an odd crow picking on a piece of cucumber lying on the street. This is the dirtiest tourist spot in the dam’s vicinity. It's a fine line between commercialisation and conservation, we note. In India, the former has always come at the cost of the latter.
Where to stay
While there are a couple of hotels in Kevadia, the officer hostel blocks, Reva Bhavan and Community Hall are much closer to the dam site and much cheaper too. A room at the Circuit House comes for as little as Rs 55 for a night inclusive of breakfast and tea but the booking has to be done from Gandhinagar.
Getting there
It's a good 82 km drive along pothole-free roads from Bharuch via Ankleshwar, Rajpardi and Rajpipla. Bharuch is well connected to Mumbai by both road and rail.
Get in touch with
Public relation officer
Reception Centre
SSNNL Kevadia Colony
District Narmada
Gujarat
Pin: 393151
Tel: 02640-232533
Executive Director (Tourism)
Tourism Cell
SSNNL block No. 12
First floor
New Sachivalaya
Gandhinagar, Gujarat
Tel: 079-23252345
Fax: 079-23223056
2 comments:
Gujarat had to fight many battles for the Sardar Sarovar dam to come this far. Pandit Nehru laid the foundation in 1961. The riparian states were needled into raising objections. a Narmada Control Authority was formed. In Bhakra or other dams, no objections had come from the project affected people but in this case, Medha Patkar was catapulted into a celebrity status for espousing their case. The world Bank withdrew its loan. Gujarat, full of determination plodded on. The people of Gujarat supported financially, morally and physically. One might say that this dam is coming up inspite of the powers that be.
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