Work on Narmada dam radial gates to take 3 more years

With this the work on completing the network of irrigation canals and field channels will begin

DILIP PATEL

Environmental clearance in, work on installing the 30 radial gates on the Sardar Sarovar dam is expected to begin in a month. The work, requiring Rs 300 crores will take nearly three years to complete. Till now, Rs 19,091.47 crore have been spent on Sardar Sarovar, which after completion will stand at 138.68 metres. A majority of the additional Rs 15,000 crore will be spent on irrigation canals.
Sardar Sarovar Narmada Nigam Ltd (SSNNL) officials say that the dam will be ready with its full capacity by 2014 and that work on main and micro canals will complete in concurrence with installation of the gates, each made of 30,000 metric tonnes of steel.
At a meeting of the Narmada Control Authority’s (NCA) environmental sub-group held on April 1, it was decided that looking at the noncooperation from farmers, SSNNL will construct field channels.
The meeting also permitted construction of spillway piers to its full height and bridge and installation of gates. The construction will begin after go-ahead from the relief and rehabilitation sub group and NCA, according to SSNNL director S Jagdishan. The construction period would be three years during which all the remaining works related to environment and relief and rehabilitation aspects, upto full reservoir level (FRL) of 138.68 metres would be completed.
The next move will be to seek permission from the NCA to fill up the reservoir, by closing its gates, upto its FRL.
The SSNNL also decided that every district which is to get Narmada water supply will have a committee to decide where micro canals and field channels will come up.
The panel will have elected members, representatives of NGOs and district officials.The panels which will explain benefits of the project to the farmers are being looked as bridged between Narmada authorities and farmers. Authorities have faced a non-cooperation from farmers on several fronts.
According to sources, work on six lakh hectares irrigation area is under progress. By month-end 3.41 lakh hectares will be covered, they said, adding that SSNNL will require Rs 5,000 crore every year if the work is to be completed by 2014.
To expedite the work in developing the command area, engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) mode of contracting has been employed. Eight EPC packages, estimated at a total of Rs 3,000 crore, have been designed to complete the 360-km Kutch branch canal with its distribution network upto minors.

NARMADA NUANCES

Thirty radial gates will be installed at the dam which now stands at 121.92 m. Each steel gate weighs 30,000 metric tonnes and is as high as a six-storeyed building. The radial gates were built in 1995 After reaching the full reservoir level, the dam will store 4.67 million acre feet water