After SSP success, state steps up Kalpasar efforts

After having won a long-drawn-out legal battle to go ahead with the controversial hydroelectric Sardar Sarovar Project, Gujarat is now looking beyond the Narmada river for more water and power.

The ambitious Rs 300-billion Kalpasar project aims at harnessing as much as 14,000 million cubic litres of water of seven rivers that flow into the ocean. This quantity of water will be enough to irrigate 1.12 million acres of the drought-ridden Saurashtra region. One-third of the water will produce an estimated 6,000 MW of power.

The project, which was stalled due to various reasons, is now being revived. The Gujarat government has sent its technical consultant C.C. Patel to the Netherlands to study and finalise technical aspects of the project, according to Mr P.K. Lahiri, special secretary to the chief minister.

A Netherlands company had presented a technical feasibility report of the project last year. The Netherlands has experience in such projects, which involve land reclamation, salinity removal in coastal areas and use of hydraulic turbines, which can convert tidal energy to power.

Chief minister Keshubhai Patel also said that the feasibility report of the project, examining various aspects of the project, will be submitted by various teams comprising 13 foreign experts and seven Indian experts by December 1999.

This ambitious project aims at connecting the 24-km distance between two old ports in the Gulf of Khambat, Ghogha in the east near Bhavnagar and Dahej on the west, by a darn to stop river water from flowing to the ocean.

"Four vital problems of Gujarat will be solved by this scheme: water, power, road and rail transport and port development," said Mr Anil Kane, vice-chancellor of the MS University, Vadodara, and a member of the Kalpasar Advisory Committee.

The Kalpasar reservoir will also create a huge fishing industry. The difference between high and low tides in this gulf is one of the highest in the world. Thousands of millions of Litres Sea water rushes in and out of the Gulf of Khambat every day. This is itself a source of tremendous amount of energy which the project hopes to take advantage of.

Once the dam is built, the Bhavnagar side of the gulf will have a sea water compartment and the opposite side near Khambhat will have a fresh water reservoir.

Turbines will be placed on the sea water side so that they are constantly worked by the tidal waters rushing in and out and thus generate electricity. During one full year the quantum of power generated will be around 120,000 million units, according to estimates.

The project will be self-financed through five different corporations that deal with transport, port development, fisheries, power and land reclamation. These corporations together will generate around Rs 300 billion that will meet the entire cost of the project.

The drafts in ports like Dahej, Kavi, Khambhat, Dholera increases by a minimum of 5-6 metres at the end of the monsoon. All these ports are getting silted despite the efforts of the Gujarat Maritime Board. Once the dam is built and the water becomes still, there will not be any daily tides, thus reducing siltation. The whole region will be protected from storms, according to projections.

The project also aims at reclaiming 4,00,000 hectares. The mudflats around the Gulf of Khambat, which get covered by sea water during spring tides, are highly saline and do not allow any vegetation to grow. The project will reclaim all this land like in Holland where at least 60 per cent of all land is reclaimed from the sea. The Kalpasar project will reclaim the land, which is 5-6 metres above the sea level.

The project is also expected to cause a spurt in industrial activity when water and power becomes available. Another benefit of the project is that saline water ingress will be reduced. The water table in various parts of Gujarat has gone down considerably due to overuse and water is also getting saline. Kalpasar will stop this trend as well as desertification," said Mr Kane.

The government has meanwhile been feverishly raising the height of the Sardar Sarovar dam to 85 metres from 80 after the Supreme Court recently granted it permission, putting an end to the legal tangle that had stalled the project. The Japanese turbines and machinery, long held back due to controversy, has finally arrived at Kandla port from Japan and the government moved it within six days to the SSP site.

Tell us what do you think about this article ?

Compiled from local news media