Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
relation to the Sardar Saravor and other Narmada Dam projects in central India,
became less certain of their value. However, the Narmada Dams did go ahead with
financing from the state of Gujurat rather than the World Bank. Tribal peoples were
displaced and lands were flooded. Protests led by former trade union activist Medha
Patkar attracted the attention of people worldwide, including the Booker Prize winning
writer Arundhati Roy, whose powerful essays and physical protests led to her being
arrested and briefly incarcerated (Dwivedi, 2006). The drive for economic development
was understandably extremely powerful, but doubts and suspicions lingered, despite
in 2000 the majority ruling by Justice Kirpal and Justice Anand of the Supreme
Court of India, which carefully assessed a revised plan and pronounced in favour
of the project:
Displacement of people living on the proposed sites and the areas to be submerged
is an important issue. Most of the hydrology projects are located in remote and
inaccessible areas, where local population is, like in the present case, either
illiterate or having marginal means of employment and the per capita income
of the families is low. It is a fact that people are displaced by projects from their
ancestral homes. Displacement of these people would undoubtedly disconnect
them from their past, culture, custom and traditions, but then it becomes necessary
to harvest a river for larger good. A nature river is not only meant for the people
close by but it should be for the benefit of those who can make use of it, being
away from it or near by.
Loss of forest because of any activity is undoubtedly harmful. Without going
into the question as to whether the loss of forest due to river valley project
because of submergence is negligible, compared to deforestation due to other
reasons like cutting of trees for fuel, it is true that large dams cause submergence
leading to loss of forest areas. But it cannot be ignored and it is important to
note that these large dams also cause conversion of waste land into agricultural
land and making the area greener. Large dams can also become instruments in
improving the environment, as has been the case in the Western Rajasthan,
which transformed into a green area because of Indira Gandhi Canal, which
draws water from Bhakhra Nangal Dam. This project not only allows the farmers
to grow crops in deserts but also checks the spread of Thar desert in adjoining
areas of Punjab and Haryana.
(Supreme Court of India Judgement, 2000)
Around 3,200 dams have now been built and the displacement of largely tribal
peoples has not been accompanied by satisfactory rehabilitation or compensation.
At the root of the continuing protests is a burning sense of social and environmental
injustice, although supporters claimed the waters from the largest dam on the Namarda
River, the Sardar Saravor, would provide sufficient water to irrigate nearly 18,000sq
km of land, three-quarters of which is prone to drought, and would provide flood
protection to a further 30,000 hectares and nearly 500,000 people. Drinking-water
facilities would be provided for 8,215 and 135 urban centres in Gujarat, and the
power generation potential would be in the region of 1,450 megawatts.
However, the biggest dam project the world has ever witnessed has been in China.
The Three Gorges Dam was completed in 2006 and is the biggest producer of
renewable energy, hydropower, in the world. By 2020 China intends to triple its
