SSNL said the height of the dam had reached 121.92m following clearance from the Narmada Canal Authority. The status report filed by SSNNL said the work on the Narmada main canal is almost completed up to 357km out of a total length of 45 km. Work on the remaining part is in progress.
All five units of the 250MW canal head power house and all six units of 1200MW riverbed power houses have been commissioned, the report added. It also said the height of the dam will be raised from time to time after necessary clearances. Canals and other works will be completed in phases and it is expected that the entire project will be completed by 2009-10.
The dam on the Narmada river in central Gujarat was originally to have been completed by June 1996. Once complete, the project will provide assured irrigation to 1.8M ha of land in Gujarat and 75,000 ha in Barmer and Jalore districts of Rajasthan. It would bring potable water to 8215 villages and 136 towns in Saurashtra, north Gujarat and Kutch.
