Govt to review Narmada dam height

In a move that could be almost as divisive in Gujarat as reservations in jobs and educational reservations, the central government today said it would review the decision to raise the height of Narmada dam.

In doing so, the government may have prevented activists of the Narmada Bachao Andolan (NBA) like Medha Patkar from embarking on an agitation, but has earned the ire of the Gujarat BJP.

The decision, taken at a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Political Affairs (CCPA), came shortly after the NBA gave a 48-hour ultimatum to the government to take back the decision to raise the height of the dam.

Just two days ago, Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi had lashed out at those protesting the Narmada dam, and praised the state's political parties for agreeing on going ahead with the project, billed as the state's "lifeline".

Addressing a public meeting, Modi said the unity was enviable and even Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was in favour of the dam.

The Sardar Sarovar Project (SSP), including the under-construction dam on Narmada in central Gujarat and the canal network, is aimed at solving water shortage in Saurashtra and Kutch regions of the state.

If the height of the dam is not increased, while the number of those who will be ousted from their land will come down, so will the catchment area that the SSP is meant to serve. The NBA did not say anything about its course of action after the two-day deadline if the government did not take a decision on the issue.

Emerging from the CCPA meeting, Water Resources Minister Saifuddin Soz, who had led a team of ministers to the site to review rehabilitation work in the affected areas, said a meeting of the review committee would be held shortly.

"As the chairperson of the committee, I will hold a meeting to review the decision taken by the Narmada Control Authority, which has allowed the increase in height," Soz said.

Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee said Soz would convene the meeting of the committee, which is an institutional arrangement to review all matters relating to the project.

Meanwhile, Gujarat's former Narmada Development Minister Jay Narayan Vyas termed the NBA's stand as baseless.

"It was after clearance from the Grievances Redressal Committees of Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra that the Narmada Control Authority had permitted rise in the height of the dam. If the NBA claims that rehabilitation has not happened well, it's baseless. If it continues its protest even after the decision of the body set up by the Supreme Court, they are simply undermining the law," Vyas said.