Matching wits on fluid issues

THE COMMITTEE SUGGESTS:

• Fresh calculation of the quantum of flow to avoid revision of plan priorities

• Efforts to achieve a 60 per cent irrigation efficiency

• Rationalisation of drainage pattern to check water-logging and salination

• Increase of water allocation from Narmada or harnessing of local water resources by the government

• Immediate listing of all villages and urban areas needing drinking water, mentioning area wise and use-wise allocation and water saving measures

• Treating hydro-electric power as a peaking facility and an additional benefit only

• Finalising of master plan for displacement within 6 months; identifying of other than land-based approaches for acquiring resettlement land

• Immediate drawing up of action plans and their implementation in the fields of catchment treatment compensatory afforestation, surveys of flora and fauna and carrying capacity, etc

BUT ANTI-DAM ACTIVISTS INSIST:

• The government is not the right agency to estimate quantum of flow

• The committee did not question the large yield estimates made; even World Bank estimates show that maximum irrigation efficiency will be around 46 per cent

• The fact that an additional Pis 22 crores will be needed to implement drainage improvements and other anti-salination measures has been ignored

• If local resources have to be developed anyway, why go for the project at all

• Cost-benefit ratio of SSP depends critically on large power benefits, so it is not an additional benefit; alternative energy planning should be studied

• Demands for master plans have always been ignored and the committee shows lack of understanding on land-based communities

• The committee has disregarded the implications of lacunae in environmental studies and the impact of such measures on the project's economics