Constructing Storage Dams-Lessons Learnt from Raising of Sardar Sarovar Dam and Gujarat

Water is essential for everybody's life, living and livelihood. It is this unique reach, which makes water a most effective means to achieve inclusive growth. It fulfils most basic human and ecological needs and is indispensable to almost all economic activities, including agriculture, energy production, industry, and mining. But its availability varies widely in time and space which makes storage dams a necessity. With impacts on health, gender equity, education and livelihood, water management, Storage Dams and water resources projects are crucial to sustainable economic development and the alleviation of poverty. Since beginning of the civilization, water resources projects have contributed towards all round development of the region. But sometimes these projects lack holistic approach thereby inviting criticisms for skewed and lopsided developments along with concerns for environment and displacement of inhabitants of the submergence area. While the command area benefit from irrigation, water supply, etc., people from submergence area not only lose their land and/or livelihood but also their social networks. Similarly, implementation of environment safeguard measures and resettlement & rehabilitation measures often raise several questions. In the process, the opportunity for inclusive growth is not utilized fully. There is a need to learn from implementation of large projects, such as Tehri HE Project, Sardar Sarovar (Narmada) Project, etc., so that proper policy perspectives emerge towards achieving inclusive growth. These experiences and best practices were also corroborated during consultation meetings for National Water Policy (2012), which helped in evolving some policy recommendations in this regard. This paper makes an attempt to present these best practices and policy prescriptions so that project authorities may adopt these and make large water resources projects more beneficial and contribute towards achieving inclusive growth.