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If the dam is built as planned, what impact will it have on the Narmada Valley region five years from now? What about 20 years from now?
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Medha Patkar
Founder of the Narmada Bachao Andolan, a movement that opposes the construction of mega-dams on the Narmada River.
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S.K. Mohapatra
Managing Director of the Sardar Sarovar Narmada Nigam Ltd, the state corporation charged with building the Sardar Sarovar dam.
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First of all, since there is no master plan for rehabilitation prepared to date, thousands of families will continue to be affected, whether or not the dam height is raised beyond the present 100 meters (+3 meters of humps [additions that divert the flow of flood waters during construction, but increase dam height -- ed.]). The number of families still residing in the reservoir area is not less than 40,000 -- the government figure is different, but thousands of major sons [family sons over the age of 18 -- ed.] of the landholder are to be, as per the policy, considered as separate family. They are yet to be rehabilitated. The thickly populated villages, with houses, markets, best of horticulture, which also has the prime agricultural lands, are yet to be affected. Any construction beyond the present height of the dam will spell doom to all those.
The situation in the valley today is one of rampant malaria. The partially built reservoir has become the breeding place of mosquitoes and health impacts are not taken care of. No health facility is available in the hilly areas, which are already affected. Crocodiles have eaten at least six young boys in the past two years, since the crocodiles are disturbed from their habitat. And a few people, including a young NBA activist, have died, sinking in the silt, which is 25-30 feet high on the banks. Many children have died of snakebite. All of this will continue to be and there will be much more if the dam height is raised.
The impact will grow within 20 years. Depending on whether or not the dam is raised, downstream impacts will start occurring in terms of dried areas of 40 kilometers [25 miles]. So are the chances of many fish kills and the likely sea ingress.
The earthquake trigger has already started. There is a likelihood of larger seismic activity in the region with the extremely volatile region getting activated due to the large water body. There are a number of faults under and around the river and the dam site.
With the forest getting lost and the catchment degraded as catchment area, treatment is only on paper, the silt will continue to gather up to a height many times of [the present height], which is around 25 feet. Thus, the life of the dam will be reduced drastically.
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The Narmada Valley extends both upstream and downstream of the dam. But the dam is so situated that the reservoir upstream is not really a vast submergence of the valley as it is made out to be, but it is more like the river widening itself on both sides as it flows down between the hills. Thus, the submergence on either side is along the slopes of the hills which are sparsely populated with forest classified as degraded.
With the massive compensatory afforestation (78 trees per every tree lost), the surrounding areas are greening progressively. At the end of five years, and more so at the end of 20 years, the upstream side of the dam will have a wider river with water throughout the year boosting the economy in terms of fishing, inland transportation, enriched forest cover, and availability of cheap hydro power. On the downstream side, the river will have a regulated flow of water of substantial quantity throughout the year (instead of 90 percent during two months of monsoon and very little in the rest of the year as of now), making the valley continue to reap the benefits of the river without fear of major floods. In the valley and beyond, about 4.9 million acres of land will receive assured irrigation, boosting the agricultural economy.
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The views expressed in this debate are solely those of the participants.
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