Sardar Sarovar Dam, Gravity dam in Kevadia, Gujarat, India
The Sardar Sarovar Dam is a gravity dam on the Narmada River in Gujarat, measuring roughly 1200 meters (3900 feet) in length and standing around 163 meters (535 feet) tall with a reinforced concrete structure. The facility includes several power units at the main dam and along the connected canal system that carries water over long distances.
Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel envisioned the project, and Jawaharlal Nehru laid its foundation stone on 5 April 1961. The Narmada Water Dispute Tribunal, set up in 1969, gave its verdict in 1979, the year the World Bank-funded scheme took form. Construction began in 1987, was stalled by the Supreme Court in 1995 amid the Narmada Bachao Andolan, and resumed in 2000-01 at 111 m, raised to 123 m in 2006 and 139 m in 2017, when Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the dam.
The dam remains a subject of varied perspectives among communities along the river, where some see new opportunities in water access while others remember their relocated villages. Visitors today notice how irrigation canals now shape farming practices and daily routines across the surrounding countryside.
The site sits in a rural area with limited tourist facilities, so visitors should bring their own refreshments and basic supplies. Viewing points along the dam wall offer wide views of the reservoir and surrounding valleys when weather is clear.
The dam's main power plant uses six 200 MW Francis pump-turbines with pumped-storage capability, and the canal intake plant adds five 50 MW Kaplan units, for 1,450 MW installed. The Statue of Unity, the world's tallest statue, faces the dam as a tribute to Vallabhbhai Patel.
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