Sardar Sarovar Dam filled to brim for 5th time since 2017; Gujarat CM offers prayers

Ahmedabad: The reservoir of the Sardar Sarovar Dam built on the Narmada river in Gujarat was filled to capacity on Tuesday following bountiful rainfall in its upstream area this monsoon season, officials said.

Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel offered prayers at the dam site near Ekta Nagar in Narmada district, around 200km from Ahmedabad, to mark the occasion, said an official release here.

This was the fifth time when the mega dam, considered Gujarat's water lifeline, has reached its full reservoir level after it was dedicated to the nation in 2017.

The dam's water mark on Tuesday reached its maximum level of 138.68 meters, or 455 feet, said the release, adding its total storage capacity was 9,460 million cubic meters (MCM).

Following inflow of water from Omkareshwar dams situated in adjoining Madhya Pradesh on the upstream of the Narmada river, authorities on Tuesday opened 10 out of 30 gates of the Gujarat dam up to the height of 0.75 meters, said the release.

Along with 60,000 cusecs of water being released from these 10 gates, nearly 45,000 cusecs is being discharged in the Narmada through six River Bed Power Houses (RBPHs) built on the dam, it said.

A total of 1,343 MW of electricity has been generated in the river bed power houses and canal head power facility during monsoon this year, said the release.

The giant dam is called 'Gujarat's lifeline' as it provides drinking water to nearly 4 crore people living in 10,014 villages, 183 cities and seven municipal areas in the state, it added.