ABSTRACT

From the time the idea of the Sardar Sarovar Project emerged to the time that the first bucket of concrete was poured, the making of the Sardar Sarovar Project has been marked by power struggles and conflicts. As the Narmada Water Disputes Tribunal (NWDT) was to note later, 'the command area and the canal surveys as they progressed indicated larger potentiality for irrigation under the proposed high level canal. A year later, in October 1969, the NWDT was formed for adjudication of the dispute. When Chimanbhai Patel replaced Ghanshambhai Oza as Chief Minister in July 1973, he attempted to unlock the Narmada dispute from the NWDT. If social costs featured in inter-state conflicts over the Narmada, there was no discussion whatsoever on the environmental costs. The NWDT appears to have disregarded the environmental impact of the Narmada projects such as forest loss, wildlife loss, salinisation and waterlogging, siltation, impact on the catchment and downstream, and seismic activity.