Development Aspects Impressum Editors

Hydropower

Another outstanding issue was that of operationalizing the 250 MW Canal Head Power House (for want of required water head in the reservoir). This power house started operating in August 2004, and thereafter a river bed power house of 1,200 MW capacity was also put into operation in a phased manner starting from Febru- ary 2005 to June 2006. The hydropower generation that commenced in Sardar Sarovar Project in August 2004 has resulted in the generation of 15,070 million kWh of electricity to March 2010.

5. Micro water harvesting

The miseries of millions of small and marginal farmers caused by the vagaries of nature and difficult terrain have been reduced through rainwater harvesting by micro-irrigation structures implemented through people’s participation.

1. Sardar Patel Participatory Conservation Project (SPPWCP)

This scheme stipulated that check dams, village tanks or ponds could be taken up for construction by a beneficiary group or any non-governmental organization (NGO) with technical and financial assistance from the District Panchayat (local representative body). They were initially required to contribute 40 per cent of the estimated costs (later reduced to 10 per cent) and the rest was to be funded by the government depending upon the progress of the work. In 2007 they were also given the option of contributing their 10 per cent by way of physical labour and, therefore, increasing their sense of belonging to the project by “the gospel of dirty hands”. Six prototype designs were circulated with a maximum cost of Rs.1,000,000.

However, the beneficiary groups were also given the latitude to take up the work to their own design if necessary and feasible. The technical scrutiny and work supervision would be done by the engineers of the local body. The entire respon- sibility for the quality of construction, however, would rest with the beneficiary group/NGO under continuous guidance and technical inputs from the government technical staff. Maintenance works for these micro water harvesting structures would be carried out by the beneficiary group at their own expense. A total of 353,937 check dams and village ponds or tanks have been created in the last eight years providing direct benefit to over 13 million people in rural Gujarat.

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