Sardar Sarovar Dam is a 163-meter high dam built over the Narmada River in Gujarat state, India. The foundation stone was laid by the Late Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, the first prime minister of India, on 5th April 1961. The dam was dedicated to the nation on the 17th of September 2017, by the Prime Minister of India, Shri Narendra Modi.

Sardar Sarovar Dam in Gujrat state

Sardar Sarovar Dam is a concrete gravity dam and is the second-largest dam in the world by volume, after Grand Coulee Dam in the US. It has a length of 1,210 meters.

Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, and Rajasthan states are the major beneficiaries of the Sardar Sarovar Dam project. The dam is used to generate electricity and for irrigation purposes. Close to 18,000 square kilometers of the area comes under irrigation from this dam. Furthermore, 1,450 Mega Watts of power is generated from this project. Moreover, the dam provides flood protection to around 210 villages and to Bharuch city, totaling around 4 lack (0.4 million) people of Gujarat state.

Significantly, the dam height was increased multiple times, which caused long-drawn legal battles for decades. Human displacement and environmental disruption in the catchment areas were the major causes of contention. Accordingly, the Supreme Court of India allowed height increases at different times, subject to satisfactory rehabilitation of the affected people.

Medha Patkar, a social activist and founder of Narmada Bachao Andolan, is the main voice of the displaced people. Narmada Bachao Andolan under Medha Patkar took the issues of the displaced people to the courts. She relentlessly fights for the rights of the displaced people of 3 states of Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, and Maharashtra. She was also a commissioner on the World Commission on Dams.

Statue of Unity near Sardar Sarovar Dam

The world’s tallest statue, the Statue of Unity, with a height of 182 meters (597 feet) is situated around 3.2 kilometers from the Narmada dam. The Statue of Unity is the statue of Sardar Vallabhai Patel, India’s first Deputy Prime Minister.

How Do I Go to Sardar Sarovar Dam

Vadodara is around 92 kilometers from Sardar Sarovar Dam. This Dam is approximately 184 kilometers from Navagam town. Anand, the milk capital of India, is approximately 140 kilometers from the Dam. Bharuch City is around 100 kilometers away. The state capital, Ahmedabad is approximately 200 kilometers from Sardar Sarovar Dam.