Sardar Sarovar Scheme

From EIA_Wiki

Sardar Sarovar is an irrigation scheme in India. Located in a drought prone region, it involves the construction of a high dam on the Narmada River, a reservoir of 37,000 hectares in three states and an irrigation network 75,000 km in length and occupying a further 80,000 hectares of land. A population of one-quarter million will be relocated, many of them tribal people. Thousands more, living downstream below the dam, also will be adversely affected.

As a result of the scale of these impacts, Sardar Sarovar came to symbolise the pros and cons of large-scale development both in India and internationally. Some see it as a project that will bring major economic benefits to millions; others regard it as environmentally and socially destructive. The relocation of tribal people, who had no formal title to land, also raised broader issues of human rights. Finally, the project, now in its final stages, was heavily criticised because the EIA and SIA processes were considered deficient in taking the full range of impacts into account.

In 1992, the scheme was the subject of an independent World Bank review, which was triggered by its loan agreement with the governments involved. The review concluded the scheme was beset by profound difficulties, which included inadequate data, failure to consult with the people affected and the lack of appropriate EIA and mitigation.

References

Berger T (1994) The Independent Review of the Sardor Sarovar Projects, 1991-1992. Impact Assessment 12:1, 3-20.