Construction major Hindustan Construction Company (HCC) has evinced interest in developing the ambitious Kalpasar project in Gujarat which has been waiting to take off for about three decades now. The company has prepared a draft proposal and submitted it to the state government.
Talking to Business Standard Rajgopal Nogja, President of HCC Real Estate Limited said, “We have shown interest in developing the Kalpasar project. The project cost as per our estimates would be about Rs 25,000-35,000 crore. We had signed an MoU with the state government in the past for developing Dholera on the lines of our Lavasa city in Maharashtra. Dholera will require huge quantity of water which can be met by Kalpasar project. Besides, Kalpasar can solve the water woes of the arid Kutch region.”
The project aims to build a dam in the Gulf of Khambhat and turn it into a sweet water lake. It is envisaged to create a fresh water basin of more than 2000 sq km which will receive water from twelve rivers flowing into Gulf including excess water from Narmada, Mahi, Sabarmati and Dadhar.
Aimed to be completed by 2020, Kalpasar will create a vast fresh water reservoir with gross storage of 16,791 million cubic metres of water, 64.16 km long and 35 metre wide dam across the Gulf of Khambhat connecting Ghogha in Bhavnagar with Hansot in Bharuch District, reducing the distance between the two by 225 km.
A high level delegation led by HCC chairman Ajit Gulabchand has held a meeting in the past with chief minister Narendra Modi for developing the project.
“We have a vast experience in these kinds of projects and this is reflected in the fact that about fifty per cent of the dams in India are built by HCC,” according to Nogja. Initially mooted in 1975, the project has seen tardy progress, with a score of pre-feasibility studies carried out over the years. The project was conceived initially as a tidal power project was transformed as tidal power cum fresh water supply project providing large multipurpose benefits.
“The amount of water to be generated by Kalpasar can be useful to build a tidal power plant of 10,000 MW,” said Nogja who was in the city to participate in a seminar on urban infrastructure development organised by Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) in association with the state government. Asked if the project is feasible given the fact that the project has not taken off after all these years, Nogja said: “The project is very much feasible. The Worli-Bandra sea-link built by HCC and which was made open recently was initially conceived over 50 years ago.”
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The area of Gulf of Khambhat proposed to be closed, harbours some major and minor ports catering to various industries and trade. Ports of Hazira and Pipavav will be outside the domain of Kalpasar whereas Dahej, Bhavnagar, Dholera will be inside the Kalpasar lake.
As the Gulf of Khambhat will be blocked by the dam, sedimentation from the rivers will add to the mud, creating problems for ports proposed at Dholera and Khambat.
The state government has carried out technical studies like topographical surveys, bathymetry, oceanographic and geophysical investigations, environmental impact assessment/Social Impact Assessment Studies, Geotechnical Investigation and Seismic Studies and so on through 15 premium institutes like Cept, Neeri and NIO.