Sardar Sarovar Dam would provide drinking water till July-end: Gujarat Dy CM

Following scanty rainfall last year, water storage is negligible in almost all the dams in Gujarat, the Deputy Chief Minister, Nitin Patel, had said here on Monday. He, however, assured that the Sardar Sarovar Dam would provide drinking water till the end of July.

Inaugurated in September 2017, the Sardar Sarovar Dam provides water and supplies electricity to four Indian states, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Maharastra and Rajasthan. One of the 30 dams planned on river Narmada, Sardar Sarovar Dam (SSD) is the largest structure to be built. It is one of the largest dams in the world.

According to Patel, around 4 crore people in Gujarat are being given water through the Narmada canal network and there is no need to worry till July end. At present, we are supplying water from the Narmada project to 8,911 villages, 165 towns and six cities, he claimed.

Commenting on the current Status of water availability from the Narmada canal- 'lifeline of Gujarat', the Chief Minister said that the live storage in Narmada dam is 0.93 million acre-feet. We are yet to receive an additional 0.35 million acre-feet from Madhya Pradesh. Around 375 crore litres of drinking water is being supplied to the people every day through the Narmada canal network.

The Sardar Sarovar Dam has enough water to provide drinking water to the people of Gujarat, Patel said. A meeting, chaired by Chief Minister Vijay Rupani, will review measures to tackle water scarcity in the state, Patel further said while addressing reporters in Gandhinagar.