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After receiving permission from the Narmada Control Authority to close the floodgates of Sardar Sarovar Dam on Narmada river at Kevadia Colony, the Gujarat government has closed all the 30 gates of the dam, raising the water level of the reservoir to 138.68 metres from 121.92 metres for the first time.
Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani termed the moment a “golden moment in the history of Gujarat.”
Deputy Chief Minister Nitin Patel, who accompanied Rupani to the sam site to make the formal closure of the flood gates, said the decision will help increase the dam’s live storage from 1.27 million acre-feet (MAF) to 4.73 MAF, enabling irrigation benefit for 18 lakh hectares of land in the State and benefiting about 4 crore people in 9,000 villages.
Rupani further added that the 30 gates — of which seven have 60x60 feet dimension and remaining have 60x50 ft dimension — will remain closed to allow more storage of water.
The electricity generation through the two hydro units of combined capacity of 1,450MW at the sam will increase 40 per cent.
Installation and closing of the gates on the dam will bring down the overflow period significantly.
The dam had overflowed for about 80 days in 2013-14 and 19 days each in 2014-15 and 2015-16.
The increased height of the dam will stop the excess water from flowing into the sea and subsequently be diverted for drinking and irrigation purposes in areas of North Gujarat, Saurashtra, Kutch and Central Gujarat.
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