(Above: Fish workers protesting with black flags in boat rally on Oct 8, 2017 when Prime Minister came to lay foundation stone for the Bhadbhut Dam)

Guest Blog by MSH Sheikh

The Sardar Sarovar Narmada Nigam Ltd (SSNNL) is managing the Sardar Sarovar dam in Gujarat over River Narmada.  Recently the Narmada Control Authority has allowed the closing of all 30 gates of the Sardar Sarovar dam on the river Narmada at Kevadia Colony, which will help raise level of water in the reservoir to 138.68 meter from the present 121.92 metre. The decision will help swell the dam’s live storage from 1.27 million acre feet (MAF) to 4.73 MAF.

However, despite the increase in capacity of the dam the release of freshwater downstream from the dam is very less, when it is there, compared to the flow in the River 10 years back. The Dam authorities believe that the release in the downstream is wastage of the fresh water, they have no value for the 150 km of Narmada River downstream from the dam. Now they are building Garudeshwar Dam, downstream of the Sardar Sarovar Dam, so that they can stop even water released during power generation at River Bed Power House to flow downstream to the Narmada estuary. Continue reading “On World Fisheries Day Gujarat Fish workers dependent on Narmada River Demand cancellation of Bhadbhut Dam, rejuvenation of River” →