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Amid Vedic chants by pundits joined by crowd with "Narmade Sarvade" chanting, the Prime Minister Narendra Modi formally inaugurated the Sardar Sarovar Dam on Narmada River at Kevadiya on Sunday. As the Prime Minister dedicated the ambitious dam project to the Nation, it marked the formal completion of the dam construction after 56 years from the day of foundation stone-laying in 1961.
PM Modi, accompanied by Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani, Gujarat Governor O P Kohli and Union Cabinet Minister Nitin Gadkari, performed puja and offered flowers to the river as a symbolic inauguration of the dam.
Modi had arrived in Gandhinagar the previous night as he was scheduled to reach Kevadiya dam site at 9.15 am by a chopper, but due to unfavourable weather conditions, the Prime Minister had to land at Dabhoi, a town in Vadodara District and take a road-journey to Kevadiya, thereby causing a delay in PM's schedule.
Earlier in the day, Modi visited his mother Hiraba at the latter's residence in Gandhinagar to seek blessings on his 67th birthday.
President Ram Nath Kovind greeted the Nation and people of four states for completion of the Narmada Dam. "Completion of Sardar Sarovar Dam fulfils a dream. Greetings to people of Gujarat, Rajasthan, Maharashtra & Madhya Pradesh, who will share benefits.. Congratulations to the four states for working together in harmony for this important national project," the Rashtrapati Bhavan's twitter handle said.
The project, which has cost around Rs. 60,000 crore, irrigates 1.8 million hectares of land in Gujarat and 2,46,000 hectares in Rajasthan. The project aims to benefit about 10 lakh farmers. The hydro power generated from the turbines installed in the dam provides electricity to Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Gujarat.
As per data made available by the state government, drinking water would be supplied to 8221 villages, 159 towns and eight cities across the state. Dry rivers and water bodies across the state would be filled with Narmada water, 17.92 lakh hectares of land across 3125 villages would get irrigation benefit, with flood control benefits in 30,000 hectares in the state.
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