Raising Sardar Sarovar Dam Height Boon or Bane?

Raising Sardar Sarovar Dam Height Boon or Bane?

The Central Government’s recent decision to allow the Gujarat government to raise by about 17 meters from 121.9 to 138.7 meters the height of Sardar Sarovar has met with mixed reactions. The official viewpoints looks at the proposed move from the benefits accruing in terms of augmentation in electricity generation and availability of additional water for irrigation and drinking purposes, the activists contend that raising the dam's height will displace an additional 2.5 lakh people. When we talk of sustainable environment and development to provide basic amenities to billions of people we have to take calculated risks, while adopting pre-emptive measures to look after the interests of the affected segments of the society on equitable basis.

While working on the maxim of “benefits for the majority not at the expense of loss to minority; but equitable sharing of benefits and loss for all”, all development plans can yield desired results for the benefit of the all segments of the society. Reviews asses the performance of dam covering not just development co-operation but also give a chance to policy & implementation with the help of stakeholders to take and integrated, system wide prospective on the development co-operation and humanitarian assistance,  In the present case of Sardar Sarovar Dam, there is a need for the capacity building of the people, with the help of Civil society organizations (CSOs), inhabiting the to-be-affected areas to convince them about the large of benefits accruing to them and the rest of the majority population from the proposed plan and the loss they would suffer in terms of loss of land, crops, dwelling units etc., would be properly compensated equitably and their grievances, if any, would be redressed.