Ahmedabad, May 14: Gujarat government today got the much-awaited nod from Narmada Control Authority (NCA) to raise the height of Sardar Sarovar dam on the Narmada river to 100 metres from the existing 95 metres. The decision was taken at a meeting of NCA officials in New Delhi today, an official release said here. Official sources said here that construction work to raise the dam height would commence tomorrow in the presence of Gujarat Governor Kailashpati Mishra, Chief Minister Narendra Modi, agriculture minister Bhupendrasinh Chudasama and other ministers. It would take 45 days to increase the dam height by five metres and another 12 days for construction of a three metre hump on top, they said. The neighbouring governments of Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh have already completed the task of resettlement and rehabilitation of families which would be affected in the wake of dam height reaching 100 metres, sources added. Gujarat had released an installment of Rs five crores to Maharashtra on May 3 for rehabilitation of affected people, the release added.

Bureau Report