‘Man-made disaster’: Gujarat BJP govt held back Narmada waters for PM Modi’s birthday, causing flood downstream, says Congress

On Monday, Congress spokesperson Manish Doshi told media persons in Ahmedabad, “Despite heavy rains in Madhya Pradesh and hourly monitoring of water levels in Narmada dam, the authorities did not release adequate amount of water on September 15 and 16 and waited for the dam to overflow on September 17 to make someone happy.”

“The quantum of water released thereafter was so big — 18 lakh cusecs — that it flooded towns and cities located downstream including Bharuch, Chanod and Karnali. This a man-made flood. We demand all concerned officials to be booked for criminal negligence and confiscate their property for paying compensation to the flood victims,” he said.

Doshi said five districts were affected and the Gujarat Congress will be writing to the President of India, Central Water Commission and both central and state governments in this regard. “Had the officials acted in time, the flood waters from Narmada could have been easily be diverted to Saurashtra where there was a demand for water,” he added.

On Sunday, GPCC president Shaktisinh Gohil claimed that the waters released suddenly from Narmada dam created a flood situation in Bharuch where waters in residential areas rose up to the second floor of apartments. “Farms have been flooded and crops destroyed. If water had been released slowly such disaster would not have happened. But Narmada dam was kept closed till it overflowed on Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s birthday. Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel also went to perform puja. This happened due to the drama by the state government to appease the BJP,” Gohil added.

Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel had flown to Kevadiya, the site of the dam, on Sunday morning for the “Narmada jal na vadhamana” or to welcome the Narmada waters. The day also marked PM Modi’s 73rd birthday.

Noting that AAP workers have reached affected areas in Bharuch to extend aid and assistance, AAP Gujarat chief Isudan Gadhvi said on Monday that Bharuch and its surrounding areas have been flooded or are facing a flood-like situation. “People have a question in their minds now – is this current flood a natural disaster or a man-made one,” he asked, before appealing to the administration to rehabilitate the affected people, and to ensure that food and shelter are provided for them.

“While aspiring for accolades, we should consider whether such activities are creating difficulties for the public. BJP leaders should keep this in mind,” said Gadhvi.

Pal Ambaliya, chairman of the Gujarat Kisan Congress, the farmers’ wing of the Gujarat Pradesh Congress Committee (GPCC), alleged that the Sardar Sarovar was “made to overflow”. “Narmada dam did not overflow on September 17, 2023, but it was made to overflow. Everyone is happy that the dam has overflowed, but it has not happened naturally. The dam was made to overflow artificially to please Narendra Modi,” Ambaliya said in a statement.

The Congress leader alleged that through such action, the Sardar Sarovar Narmada Nigam Limited (SSNNL), an undertaking of the Gujarat government, caused “wide-scale damage” to people. “In doing that, vested interests have certainly been protected but scores of people had to suffer large-scale damage. For example, farmers of Saurashtra, Kutch and north Gujarat regions had been longing for water for the past one month. But they were not given water because they (the government) were waiting for September 17.”

Ambaliya said that if the SSNNL had released the water in a staggered manner, standing crops across lakhs of acres could have been irrigated. He also said that the India Meteorological Department (IMD) had warned of heavy rain, but SSNNL waited till the Prime Minister’s birthday to open the floodgates.

“The IMD had warned five days ago that extremely heavy rainfall, which will require a red alert to be sounded, was likely to be experienced in central and south Gujarat regions. In such a situation, by causing the Narmada dam to overflow artificially, by releasing lakhs of cusecs of water over the past two days, people living downstream the dam, for example in Bharuch, have been made victims of an artificial flood. This is a man-made disaster,” said Ambaliya.

He also alleged that officers of the Madhya Pradesh government released 9.45 lakh cusecs of water from the Indirasagar Dam to make the Sardar Sarovar overflow on September 17. “I had predicted last year 15 days in advance that Narmada dam would overflow on September 17 only and my prediction was proven right… The same thing happened this year as well,” he said.

“When there is heavy rainfall in low-lying areas of the Narmada river, they opened 23 gates of the Narmada dam to please Modi and created a grim situation of flood downstream. Lakhs of people are battling the flood… Has the dam been constructed only to celebrate Narendra Modi’s birthday?” asked the Congress leader.

Gujarat’s Water Resources Minister Kunvarji Bavaliya could not be reached immediately for a comment.

The SSNNL has been discharging 5.94 lakh cusecs of water from the dam by keeping three gates open and has also been releasing 18,593 cusecs of water into the dam’s canal. Similarly, the irrigation department is discharging water from Ukai and Damanganga dams in the south Gujarat region; Wanakbori, Panam, Hadaf, Kadana, Karjan dams in the central Gujarat region and Dantiwada and Dharoi dams in the north Gujarat region.