Alternatives For The Narmada Damming Project example essay topic

The Narmada Valley Project is the largest single river project in India to date. 'The idea of tapping or damming the Narmada waters was debated way back in 1946 by the concerned provincial governments over issues like the sharing of water between the states of Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Gujarat. ' However for many years the damming project was put on hold, due to political and legal wrangling that culminated with the Narmada Waters Dispute. In the late 1980's the construction of the dams was finally underway, which was met with a huge following against the damming. Since the construction, the waters of the Narmada have been rising violently. The construction of large dams on the Narmada River has generated critical social and political debates in contemporary India.

In its passage through the states of Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Gujarat, it is the site of 30 large, 135 medium and 3,000 small dams. Sardar Sarovar is one of the gigantic dams expected to irrigate 5 million acres of land, generate 1,450 megawatts of power, and supply water to 8,000 villages and 135 towns through the Mahi pipeline in Gujarat. Those in Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh will be the worst affected by the Sardar Sarovar. In violation of rules, since May 2003, the height of the Sardar Sarovar dam has been increased to 100 meters at the behest of the Narmada Control Authority, while resettlement and rehabilitation has yet to be completed at the authorized 90 meter level. The Narmada River rises in the Mai kal hills of Amarkantak in Madhya Pradesh and flows 1312 kms westward to meet and merge with the Arabian Sea at Gujarat. On the way the river passes through stretches of deep, forested, mountainous terrain and rich, undulating fertile plains.

The forested lands stretching along the banks of the Narmada are inhabited by mainly tribal communities such as the Gonds, Kirkus, Boils and Bhilalas. Where as the rich fertile lands are inhabited by large numbers of peasants and urban people. But now, these lands which have nurtured human and other forms of life for millennia are witnessing unprecedented and rapid destruction. 'The ostensible purpose of these dams is to garner power and irrigation benefits to millions of people near the Narmada River, but the dams will also uproot almost all inhabitants on both banks of the river.

Nearly a million people will lose their land and homes, cultures and livelihoods. Rich stands of forest will be destroyed forever, as will the vegetation, flora and fauna that it supports. Thousands of acres of rich agricultural lands will be submerged in water. This free, ever flowing, life sustaining river will become a series of lakes, long fingers of stilled and stagnant water. ' With the dams simply engulfing and submerging villages, forests, land and homes of millions of people, it is also affecting millions of Indian people whose livelihood depends on the flow of the Narmada River. 'This includes those to be affected by related schemes such as compensatory afforestation, catchment area works, colony construction, development of sanctuaries, as well as the thousands of people engaged in traditional, community based occupations, such as melon growing and fisher folk families downstream of the dam.

' Of the some 40,000 families that have been displaced due to damming of the Narmada, only miniscule proportions have been rehabilitated. Village communities have been dispersed in up to 40 different locations, with uncultivated, waterlogged, fragmented land and in some cases no land. 'Many of the displaced families are forced to live in inhospitable tin sheds with little provision for fodder, fuel or drinking water. ' Environmentalists, tribals, peasants, men, women and children of the Narmada Valley in India had argued passionately against the project, and lost. 'In the early years, giant river valley projects throughout India were hailed as signs of progress along the long path to abolishing poverty and were instantly received as unqualified successes. Yet, in recent years, high dams have come under close scrutiny.

At question is whether or not the benefits actually outweigh the enormous economic, human and environmental costs. ' And what are the costs? These are highly refuted and controversial claims, and ones that could have been met through alternative and sustainable development. The 133 mile long reservoir of the Sardar Sarovar, a multipurpose hydroelectric project, will flood 91,000 acres of land, 28,000 acres of which are forest lands, and render destitute 40,000 plus families. About 50 per cent of those who will be affected are adivasi (tribal) people. The Narmada watershed is home to about 20 million peasants and adivasi people whose subsistence is critically linked to their land, forests and water.

Minimally, a million people will be severely affected if the entire project is carried out. There are many other factors that need to be raised in relation to costs and concerns in damming the Narmada River. Along with the environmental issues of losing many forested lands, there are also health issues plus other ecological issues. 'The impounding of water and the spread of surface irrigation inevitably generates conditions which are favourable for water-borne disease vectors. It is well established that diseases like malaria have been greatly aggravated due to dams in India, along with filarial, cholera, gastroenteritis, viral encephalitis, goiter and some other water-borne diseases will result in the process of damming the river. The other environmental issues are the loss of wildlife, water-logging, salinity, seismicity and lastly the effects on downstream ecosystems.

' But what are the benefits of this integrated project of damming the Narmada River? Well there aren't that many. It encompasses 75 000 km of canals which is meant to irrigate a command area of 1.79 x 106 hectares of cultivable land in Gujarat, it promises to bring drinking water to 30 million persons and also provide hydroelectric power to all three riparian states. However the power that is suppose to be generated by the damming of the river is a lot less than expected, with the a substantial part of the power generated by the Sardar Sarovar dam will be used to lift the water. The total cost of the Narmada Damming Project is estimated to be in the order of US$4 billion of which the World Bank has funded.

The Narmada Damming is only going to provide small amounts of electricity, it will supply fresh drinking water to millions of people, which is an upside to the project, and the project will also help irrigate many acres of cultivated land. 'The thing about multipurpose dams like the Sardar Sarovar is that their "purposes" that being irrigation, power production, and flood control all conflict with one another. Irrigation uses up the water you need to produce power. Flood control requires you to keep the reservoir empty during the monsoon months to deal with an anticipated surfeit of water.

And if there's no surfeit, you " re left with an empty dam. And this defeats the purpose of irrigation, which is to store the monsoon water. ' The Big Dam will produce only 3% of the power planners say it will, that's only 50 megawatts. Additionally, when you take into account the power needed to pump water through the network of canals inevitably attached to the dam, the Sardar Sarovar Project will consume more electricity than it produces. However keeping that it mind it is believed that 'Some 1.15 crore people in villages and many more in cities are expected to benefit. In addition the project is expected to check floods, generate pisciculture in the huge reservoirs, give employment to hundreds of thousands of people, supply water for domestic and industrial use, and promote tourism.

Overall it is hoped that the project will bring about an agricultural and industrial revolution which will usher in an era of prosperity for the valley. ' So what are the alternatives for the Narmada Damming Project? The human and environmental consequences of the project are enormous. After these costs have been paid, the project will still not be able to break-even. While some people will get rich off the scheme, most of those identified as 'beneficiaries' may either never see the waters of the Narmada, or, at best, enjoy them for only a few decades before the reservoir begins to silt up. What needs to be done is for someone to devise 'improved dry farming technology, watershed development, small dams, lift schemes for irrigation and drinking water, improving the efficiency of major projects that are already complete, reclamation of land damaged by canal irrigation, develop a combination of energy conservation measures, decentralized power generation and centralized natural gas plants, in a manner which is non-destructive and sustainable, both ecologically and financially.

' Arguably, droughts are a damaging reality in India and the need for water is immense. India needs a water program that will provide water to the fields, villages, towns and industries throughout the year, without placing certain communities at risk to benefit others. India needs cost effective and environmentally responsible technologies for the networking of her water bodies. The success of such endeavors will depend on local participation and the nation's capacity to ensure the rights of the poor. The proposed dams will affect millions of people but only a certain percentage of them will be privy to the government's resettlement and rehabilitation programs.

The problem here arises in defining who Project-Affected Persons are. The World Commission on Dams urges that the 'impact assessment includes all people in the reservoir, upstream, downstream and in catchment areas whose properties, livelihoods and nonmaterial resources are affected. It also includes those affected by dam-related infrastructure such as canals, transmission lines and resettlement developments' In reality, however, people affected by the extensive canal system are not considered as Project-Affected Persons. These people are subject to resettlement and rehabilitation packages, but not the same ones as those living in the reservoir area. Unbelievably, those not entitled to any compensation at all are the hundreds of thousands whose lands or livelihoods are affected by either project-related developments or downstream impacts.

The Narmada Damming Project offers a good example of how not to plan a watershed management scheme. It has generated widespread public unrest, displaced too many persons and drawn international attention to the darker side of the Indian government environmental and human rights abuses, as well as very short-sighted planning. It is disturbing to see how easily the environmental clearances were waived for short-term political gain. The net costs outweigh the benefits, and worse still, the project will add to socio-economic disparity of an already excluded groups of people.