Garudeshwar weir project gets go-ahead

The powerful inter-state body, Sardar Sarovar Construction Advisory Committee (SSCAC) gave final clearance to the construction of Garudeshwar Weir, to be built 12 kilometres downstream of the Narmada dam. Tenders are expected to be floated soon for building the weir. Senior officials of the Gujarat government, who took part at a high-level meeting of the SSCAC under the chairmanship of Union irrigation secretary DV Singh at Kevadia Colony off Narmada Dam, said the weir would “enable production of power during peak hours with the help of reversible turbines, put up at the dam”. The cost of the weir would be Rs 400 crore, and all three beneficiary states present in the meeting in Kevadia — Gujarat, Maharahstra and Madhya Pradesh — agreed to bear the cost. “The Sardar Sarovar Narmada Nigam Ltd was asked to float tenders to start construction of the weir immediately,” a senior state official who was present at the meeting, said. Under the Narmada award, Gujarat gets 16 per cent of power produced at the dam, as against Madhya Pradesh’s 57 per cent and Maharashtra’s 27 per cent. The proposed weir would store one million acre feet (MAF) of water, one-fourth of the current dam capacity. Water from the weir would be pumped back into the dam, and then again sent through the turbines to generate power. “Pump-back generation is economical only during peak hours, when cost of power available from the Central grid is much higher than the cost of generating power by using the pumpback technology”, the official said. During the meeting, the Union government representative said, he expected the dam’s height would start being raised from the present 121.92 metres to 138.64 metres within two months from now. “We hope that Maharashtra completes its resettlement and rehabilitation plan for its Narmada oustees with the appointment of new chairman for its grievances redressal authority,” Singh was quoted as saying. An official added, “Maharashtra, the only state which has not given its action taken report, agreed to comply.”