A dam is not a canal

Pouring the last bucket of concrete for the Sardar Sarover dam on the Narmada river in Gujarat, as was done by the state's chief minister on December 31, may have technically completed the civil construction phase of the 121.92-metre high barrier wall, but it does not mean that work on this multi-purpose project is over. Nor does it mean that the benefits from the project will start flowing to the intended beneficiaries in full measure. Even more significantly, it does not mean an end to the controversies over the resettlement and rehabilitation of the affected population, and development work in the project command area. No one should under-estimate the importance of this half-century-old, Rs 22,000-crore project for the states of Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Rajasthan, but the way this project has been implemented needs to be viewed as a prime example of how not to undertake ventures of this magnitude. Sardar Sarovar has become a political symbol in Gujarat; if symbolism is to be replaced by substance, and if the project is to deliver its full economic benefit, much remains to be done.

Going by the official claims""disputed by the Narmada Bachao Andolan (NBA), which mounted a protracted agitation to stop its construction""the project will irrigate 1.8 million hectares of land and meet the drinking water and other needs of some 20 million people in the four states. For this, it envisages laying a vast, 86,000-kilometre network of canals. Besides, it will generate 1,450 MW of power through its 11 turbines. However, these benefits would accrue in full measure only on the completion of the whole infrastructure, which is still a long way off. At present, not even 23 of the proposed 38 branch canals have been constructed; ideally, this should have been done simultaneously with the construction of the dam. The laying down of such a network is unlikely to be an easy task as it involves working on no fewer than one million civil structures of various types all over the project command area, spanning four states.

What is particularly disquieting about the project is the poor progress on the most controversial issue, which is the resettlement and rehabilitation of dam oustees and other project-affected people; their number is reckoned by the anti-dam lobby at 320,000. Though Madhya Pradesh is believed to be the most laggard state in this respect, the record of others is far from satisfactory. Even interventions by the Supreme Court and the Prime Minister have failed to produce the desired results on this vital front. Reports indicate that a sizable number of the oustees are still to be properly rehabilitated and many of those who have been resettled at alternative sites have been given poor- quality land with meagre irrigation and other facilities. Cases of malpractice in the allotment of land and provision of other amenities have also come to light. It might be argued that the NBA agitation had led to frequent interruptions in project implementation, but the blame for this rests largely with the project authorities. If they are to be judged on the basis of their record of actions, they had no intention to be fair and just to those being displaced by the project, and no one should complain if the Supreme Court cracks down on them for repeated and perhaps intentional failures on this front.