Chief Minister Felicitates the Water of River Narmada as the Sardar Sarovar Narmada Dam Overflows

Gandhinagar : The water level of the Sardar Sarovar Dam, a lifeline of Gujarat’s water and agricultural revolution, has reached its maximum height of 138.68 meters (455 feet), equating to a total storage capacity of 9,460 million cubic meters. On Tuesday afternoon, Chief Minister Shri Bhupendra Patel visited the Sardar Sarovar Dam site in Ekta Nagar during the auspicious Vijay Muhurt and performed a ceremonial Jal Poojan, hailing the waters of the Narmada River. This year, the Sardar Sarovar Dam started overflowing on August 11, attributed to the heavy rainfall during the monsoon season. The reservoir has been overflowing for 51 days, resulting in a total of 10,012 million cubic meters (8.177 MAF) of excess water. Additionally, a total of 1,343 MW of electricity has been generated at both the riverbed powerhouse and the canal head powerhouse of the Narmada scheme during this monsoon season, contributing to an overall production of 6,283 crore units of electricity to date.

This project provides drinking water to 4 crore people across 10,014 villages, 183 cities, and 7 municipal areas in the state. Chief Minister Shri Bhupendra Patel performed the Jal Poojan with the chanting of mantras. It is important to note that within 17 days of taking office, Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi granted approval to complete the remaining work on the Narmada Dam and to install the gates. The state government promptly undertook this work, completing all tasks, including the installation of 30 gates, nine months ahead of schedule. On his birthday, September 17, 2017, Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi dedicated the Sardar Sarovar Dam to the nation.

Since its dedication to the nation in 2017, the Sardar Sarovar Dam has reached its maximum level five times. In the past, overflow water from the dam was directed to the sea. However, under the visionary leadership of Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi and with effective water management, this water is now being used to fill 115 dams in Saurashtra, along with nine large and medium reservoirs and 909 lakes in North Gujarat through the Sujlam Suflam Yojana and SAUNI Yojana. This year, due to the overflowing of the Sardar Sarovar Dam, Narmada water has been released into 10 different rivers across the state, revitalizing these waterways. Chief Minister Shri Bhupendra Patel has upheld the tradition of worshipping the water that has reached the full capacity of the Sardar Sarovar Narmada Dam for the second consecutive year.

On this occasion, MLA Smt. Darshana Deshmukh; Chhota Udepur MP Shri Jashubhai Rathwa; Chief Secretary Shri Raj Kumar; Chairman and Managing Director of Narmada Corporation Shri Mukesh Puri; Additional Chief Secretaries to the Chief Minister Shri Pankaj Joshi and Shri M.K. Das; Director of Sardar Sarovar Narmada Nigam Shri Nadpara, organization officials and senior district officials remained present.

Source: Information Department, Gujarat