Narmada Valley Development Authority

Narmada being one of the major rivers in Central India, there has been a large amount of studies aiming at exploiting the abundant water resource. This has also led to various disputes between Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Gujarat, the three states through which a major portion of Narmada flows. One such dispute was regarding the construction of Navagam dam in Gujarat,[2] which would submerge areas in Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra. To resolve the dispute between the states in sharing the Narmada water, the Narmada Water Disputes Tribunal was formed by the Government of India in 1969. In 1979, 10 years after its formation, Narmada Water Disputes Tribunal awarded 18.25 Million Acre Feet (MAF) out of the total 27 Million Acre Feet (MAF) of water to Madhya Pradesh.[3] This was however under the condition that the state has to completely utilize the allocated water by 2025. If it failed to do so, the un-utilized water will be reallocated to other states. Madhya Pradesh government formed Narmada Valley Development Authority in 1985 to oversee the progress of the projects being planned in the Narmada Basin.

Narmada is the fifth largest river in India. It is also the largest West flowing river in India, with a total length of 1312 km. Known as the 'Life Line of Madhya Pradesh', 87% of Narmada lies in Madhya Pradesh, covering the districts Shahdol, Balaghat, Rajnandgaon, Mandla, Seoni, Dindori, Katni, Jabalpur, Damoh, Sagar, Narsinghpur, Chhindwara, Betul, Hoshangabad, Harda, Raisen, Sehore, Khandwa, Indore, Dewas, Khargone, Dhar, Jhabua & Barwani. Besides Madhya Pradesh, the river also flows through minor parts of Gujarat and Maharashtra. Narmada has a potential of irrigating over 6 million ha (15 million acres) of land along with a capacity to generate about 3,000 Mega Watt of hydro electric power. Narmada Water Disputes Tribunal (NWDT) had allocated fixed share of water for each of the four states as follows:[4][5]

Each state has to utilize its share of water allocated by 2025, when failing, it will get reallocated to other states. So as to completely utilize the allocated share of water of 18.25 MAF, Madhya Pradesh government came up with 29 major, 135 medium and over 3,000 minor projects which are scheduled to be completed by 2025.

Table below provide details on the major dams and canals being planned on the Narmada Basin by NVDA[6]

Layout of Water Resources Development Projects in the Narmada Basin in Gujarat & Madhya Pradesh