Garudeshwar Weir could pave way for Sardar statue

The construction of Garudeshwar Weir,12 kilometres downstream of Narmada Dam,could pave the way for the ambitious Statue of Unity on Sadhu Bet in the vicinity of Narmada Dam,Sardar Sarovar Narmada Nigam Limited officials have said.

The construction of Garudeshwar Weir,12 kilometres downstream of Narmada Dam,could pave the way for the ambitious Statue of Unity (Sardar Vallabhbhai Patels statue) on Sadhu Bet in the vicinity of Narmada Dam,Sardar Sarovar Narmada Nigam Limited (SSNNL) officials have said.

We are hoping that once the construction of the weir starts,we could go ahead with the proposed statue of Sardar Patel, said an SSNNL official.

The Sardar Sarovar Construction Advisory Committee (SSCAC) headed by Dhruv Vijay Kumar Singh gave final clearance for the construction of the weir on Monday.

SSNNL MD S Jagdeeshan,who was part of the SSCAC meeting,said tenders will be floated soon for the construction of the 1,100 metres long and 31.75 metres high weir.

The proposed weir,costing about Rs 400 crore,will store one Million Acre Feet (MAF) water,one-fourth of the Narmada Dams capacity,while water from the weir will be pumped back into the dam and then again sent through turbines to generate power.

Jagdeeshan said,The weir will facilitate production of power during peak hours with the help of reversible turbines at the dam. SSCAC officials said the pump-back power generation is economical only during peak hours,when the cost of power available from the Central Power Grid is much higher than the cost of generating power through pump-back technology.

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