Nearly 56 years after its foundation was laid, the Sardar Sarovar Dam, which was mired in controversies and faced stiff opposition from affected villagers, today became a reality with Prime Minister Narendra Modi dedicating it to the nation.
Modi, on his 67th birthday today, unveiled the plaque dedicating the mega project to the nation amidst chanting of vedic hymns by students.
Addressing a rally at Dabhoi after the inauguration, Modi said that no other project in the world has faced so many hurdles as this "engineering miracle" which many people had "conspired to stop".
"No other project in the world has faced such hurdles as the Sardar Sarovar Dam on the Narmada river. But we were determined to complete the project," Modi said here.
"Sardar Sarovar will become a symbol of India's new and emerging power and propel growth in the region ... the project is an engineering miracle."
Modi, who had earlier dedicated the dam to the nation on his 67th birthday, said "many false allegations were hurled on us. Many people conspired to stop this project. But we were determined not to take make it a political battle."
"I have knowledge ('kacha chittha') of everyone who tried to stall this project, but I will not name them as I do not want to go on that route," Modi said.
"A massive misinformation campaign was launched against the project. The World Bank which had earlier agreed to fund the project, refused to give loan for it raising environmental concerns. But, with or without the World Bank, we completed the massive project on our own," he said.
Modi said the construction of this dam was an engineering marvel and every engineering student should study it.
Noting that shortage of water was a major factor in slowing the pace of development, Modi said the project will also help take water from the dam to the Indo-Pak border in Gujarat to fulfil the water needs of BSF soldiers, besides benefitting states like Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Maharashtra.
He said he was delighted to dedicate the dam to the nation on his birthday and thanked the chief ministers of Madhya Pradesh, Shivraj Singh Chouhan, Maharashtra's Devendra Fadnavis and Rajasthan's Vasundhara Raje Scindia.
Paying tributes to Sardar Vallabh Bhai Patel and B R Ambedkar, Modi said had the two leaders lived longer, the dam would have been completed in the 60s and 70s itself, boosting the economy and combating the problems of drought and floods.
World Bank refused to give loan for the project raising environmental concerns, but we completed it on our own, he said.
Earlier, the prime minister performed a puja at the site here in the Narmada district.
Union minister Nitin Gadkari, Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani were among the dignitaries present on the occasion.
The foundation stone of the dam, which could prove to be a boon for the people of the state's perennially-parched areas like Saurashtra, Kutch and North Gujarat and even few districts of Rajasthan, was laid on April 5, 1961 by first the country's first prime minister, Jawharlal Nehru.
However, it took 56 years to finally complete its construction due to court cases and protests by the affected villagers.
The project was mired in many controversies and faced impediments from pro- and anti-dam activists, till finally the Supreme Court gave the nod for its construction in 2000.
The dam on the river Narmada has been described as 'Gujarat's lifeline' by the BJP leaders, as it aims to provide drinking water to 131 urban centres and 9,633 villages (53 per cent of total 18,144 villages of Gujarat) and irrigation facilities for 18.54 hectares of land covering 3,112 villages under 73 talukas in 15 districts.
Modi's visit, which has added significance as assembly elections are due in Gujarat by the year-end, is the second in less than a week after he hosted Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in the state and launched the bullet train project.
Earlier, the prime minister had stressed that the project will start a new chapter of prosperity for Gujarat.
Chief Minister Vijay Rupani had called the project as "Gujarat's lifeline", noting that the agricultural income and production by farmers in the state had more than doubled because of it.
The delay in the completion of the dam was due to a variety of reasons. After its inauguration, there was a dispute between Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh on the sharing of the water and electricity.
In 1964, to resolve the dispute about sharing of the Narmada water between Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh, the Government of India appointed an expert committee under the chairmanship of Dr A N Khosla, as per the website of Sardar Sarovar Narmada Nigam Ltd.
However, the Madhya Pradesh government was not agreeable to the sharing of Narmada water as per Khosla Committee report and hence the Narmada Water Dispute Tribunal was constituted in 1969, said the website.
"The tribunal gave its final award in December 1979," after which the construction was started in 1980, it said.
However, the Narmada Bachao Andolan (NBA), led by activist Medha Patkar, soon launched an agitation against the dam and took the matter to the Supreme Court over environmental concerns and the rehabilitation of tribals from their dwellings as their lands were likely to be submerged in the dam water.
The NBA launched an aggressive agitation on the issue and also pursued the matter in the court.
The Gujarat government promised in the court to give a robust rehabilitation package to those affected by the project, but the NBA would not accept that.
In 1996, the Supreme Court stayed the project, further delaying the work on the dam. The apex court, on October 18, 2000, in a 2-1 majority judgement, allowed construction of the dam up to the height of 138 metres subject to completion of the rehabilitation process.
However, even after the court verdict, the construction of the dam faced many hurdles over rehabilitation issues. In response to the NBA, the pro-dam people of Gujarat also launched many agitations citing its benefits.
Modi, when he was the chief minister of Gujarat, sat on a 51-hour fast in 2006 as the UPA government had refused to give permission to raise the height of the dam citing incomplete rehabilitation work.
In just 17 days after becoming the prime minister in 2014, his government gave the final permission to raise the height of the dam to 138 metres and install the gates.
The work on raising the height of the dam to 138.68 metres was recently completed, which will allow maximum 'usable storage' of 4.73 million acre feet of water.
Apart from Gujarat, the Narmada canal will also irrigate 2,46,000 hectares of land in the desert districts of Barmer and Jalore of Rajasthan.
The two hydel electricity generation plants at the dam have an installed capacity of 1,200 MW (river bed power house) and 250 MW (canal head power house).
The power generated from it would be shared by three states in which Madhya Pradesh will get 57 per cent, Maharashtra 27 per cent and Gujarat 16 per cent.
The project intends to take water for drinking and irrigation purpose to the parched areas of Saurashtra, North Gujarat and Rajasthan by canal networks.
