Date:29/01/2004 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2004/01/29/stories/2004012903321200.htm

National

Decision on raising Narmada dam height deferred

By Gargi Parsai

NEW DELHI, JAN. 28. The Narmada Control Authority today deferred a decision on raising the height of the Narmada dam in Gujarat at its meeting here, after one of the riparian States, Maharashtra, raised objections. It is understood that the Maharashtra Government will oppose raising the height of the dam from 100 metres to 110.64 metres at the meeting of the Review Committee of the Narmada Control Authority (RCNCA), the apex body on the Sardar Sarovar Project, tomorrow.

The NCA, chaired by the Union Water Resources Secretary, V.K. Duggal, deferred a decision after the Maharashtra Government sought at least three months time for rehabilitation and resettlement of the displaced and dispossessed families in the State. The Maharashtra representative said that surveys were still on and that about 450 families needed to be rehabilitated and resettled.

Taking note of Maharashtra's "difficulty"', the NCA decided to present the matter as such to the RCNCA, which is meeting here tomorrow under the chairmanship of the Union Minister for Water Resources, Arjun Charan Sethi. The Chief Ministers of the Narmada Valley States — Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Rajasthan — are members of the Review Committee. The Committee will review the status of the progress made on the Narmada dam and on the rehabilitation and resettlement of the oustees.

Significantly, today the States were not ready with their Action Taken Reports as had been decided in the previous meeting of the NCA's Rehabilitation and Resettlement Sub-Group. The NCA meeting today was preceded by a meeting of the Sub-Group, chaired by the Secretary of the Ministry of Social Welfare and Empowerment, where the States expressed their difficulties in resettling the displaced populations.

The Narmada Water Disputes Tribunal has said that dispossessed families should be rehabilitated and resettled a year before submergence, whereas the height of the dam has direct effect on submergence.