ABSTRACT
The Sardar Sarovar Project controversy has entered its sixth year, if we disregard the mild rumblings against the Narmada valley projects before 1988. The truth of the general theory cannot be assumed and then invoked in the specific case of the Sardar Sarovar Project. Specific criticism of the environmental aspects of the Sardar Sarovar Project surfaced in the second half of 1987. The Report of the Independent Review points out that the 1983 application for Sardar Sarovar Project clearance was supported by a short-term benchmark survey by the Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda. When the Independent Review started its inquiry, the issue of water availability in Narmada already had many twists. The Report of the Independent Review never resolves the issue of hydrology. The Independent Review reports difficulties in assessing compliance because of disputes between the Narmada Control Authority and the Ministry of Environment and Forests over who is to assess compliance and who is to define progress.
