A file photo of the construction of the Sardar Sarovar Dam across the Narmada river in Gujarat. Photo: Sam Pathaky/AFPThe Narmada dam project or technically the Sardar Sarovar Project has again emerged as a human rights cause célèbre over the past month, with government coming down on protesters, in particular against Medha Patkar, leader of the rehabilitation and resettlement watchdog Narmada Bachao Andolan (NBA), on 7 August. Gujarat remains the greatest intended beneficiary of the Narmada project after Madhya Pradesh in terms of increased irrigation; and after Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra in hydroelectricity. However, the bulk of the displaced along the Narmada river are in Madhya Pradesh, with the project’s ambit of 30 dams. The Sardar Sarovar dam (commonly referred to as the Narmada dam) in Gujarat near its border with Maharashtra is the biggest.

Source: Mint August 09, 2017 22:30 UTC