Baroda, July 04: The work of raising height of Sardar Sarovar dam from 90 to 95 metres across Narmada river at Kevadia, about 120 kms from here, would be completed tomorrow, Sardar Sarovar Narmada Nigam Limited (SSNNL) chairman Bhupendrasinh Chudasama said today.

Soon after this, the construction of the three metre hump will start, which will be over in next seven to eight days, Chudasama said. This will help in pumping out about 4,500 cusec of water from the Sardar Sarovar reservoir without the use of gravity, he said adding that the water would be supplied to towns and villages under Central Gujarat and Saurashtra, including Baroda, Jamnagar and Bhal areas.

This will save a considerable amount of electricity, he added. After approval from the Narmada Control Authority (NCA), the construction work on raising the height of the dam to 95 m (plus 3 m hump) began on May 17 in the presence of Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi, Chudasama, SSNL managing director K C Kapoor and other SSNNL officials.

After representation by Modi, union finance minister had agreed, in principle, to accord infrastructure project status to the Sardar Sarovar Project which will help in raising more money for it.
Bureau Report