Why Sardar Sarovar project settlement sparked a political row in Madhya Pradesh
CM Mohan Yadav says MP's rehabilitation payables to Gujarat had reduced drastically, but the Opposition Congress claims a surrender of the state's interests
Around 30 issues have long remained unresolved, including those of rehabilitation and sharing of waters between the states.
The Opposition Congress in Madhya Pradesh accused the BJP government of bowing to pressure from Gujarat and surrendering the state’s interests. Yadav, on the other hand, said the rehabilitation-related payables by his state to Gujarat had reduced drastically owing to cordial discussions. This, he said, meant a saving of around Rs 1,270 crore for Madhya Pradesh.
Yadav said that as per the attorney general’s opinion given in February, Madhya Pradesh’s share in rehabilitation expenses was 31.98 per cent, or around Rs 1,500 crore. After the July 7 meeting, the share had reduced to 16.17 per cent, which means the state would have to pay Rs 231.8 crore to Gujarat.
Yadav said the share of Gujarat had increased from 50.57 per cent to 75 per cent while that of Maharashtra was reduced from 15.15 per cent to 7.66 per cent. Gujarat would receive Rs 553.4 crore from other states as share in rehabilitation.
The chief minister informed that Madhya Pradesh was getting 57 per cent of the total electricity generation under the project besides irrigation and water supply in Ujjain, Dhar, Indore and Pithampur.
But the Congress claimed a completely different set of figures. The party’s state secretary Kunal Chaudhry said Madhya Pradesh had suffered the most in terms of loss of forests, villages and agricultural land from project-linked submergence. He claimed Madhya Pradesh was supposed to get Rs 7,669 crore from Gujarat as compensation but instead, Madhya Pradesh had agreed to pay Rs 550 crore to Gujarat.
Chaudhry said Congress governments in Madhya Pradesh had always opposed raising the height of the dam but in 2014, after the BJP came to power at the Centre, the height was increased from 138 metres to 192 metres. He said the 18.25 MAF (million acre-feet) of water accorded to Madhya Pradesh was never utilised and the state, at best, gets to use 12 MAF of water.
BJP state general secretary Rahul Kothari accused the Congress of spreading canards. “Issues between states pending for 30 years have been resolved,” he said.
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Around 30 issues have long remained unresolved, including those of rehabilitation and sharing of waters between the states.
The Opposition Congress in Madhya Pradesh accused the BJP government of bowing to pressure from Gujarat and surrendering the state’s interests. Yadav, on the other hand, said the rehabilitation-related payables by his state to Gujarat had reduced drastically owing to cordial discussions. This, he said, meant a saving of around Rs 1,270 crore for Madhya Pradesh.
Yadav said that as per the attorney general’s opinion given in February, Madhya Pradesh’s share in rehabilitation expenses was 31.98 per cent, or around Rs 1,500 crore. After the July 7 meeting, the share had reduced to 16.17 per cent, which means the state would have to pay Rs 231.8 crore to Gujarat.
Yadav said the share of Gujarat had increased from 50.57 per cent to 75 per cent while that of Maharashtra was reduced from 15.15 per cent to 7.66 per cent. Gujarat would receive Rs 553.4 crore from other states as share in rehabilitation.
The chief minister informed that Madhya Pradesh was getting 57 per cent of the total electricity generation under the project besides irrigation and water supply in Ujjain, Dhar, Indore and Pithampur.
But the Congress claimed a completely different set of figures. The party’s state secretary Kunal Chaudhry said Madhya Pradesh had suffered the most in terms of loss of forests, villages and agricultural land from project-linked submergence. He claimed Madhya Pradesh was supposed to get Rs 7,669 crore from Gujarat as compensation but instead, Madhya Pradesh had agreed to pay Rs 550 crore to Gujarat.
Chaudhry said Congress governments in Madhya Pradesh had always opposed raising the height of the dam but in 2014, after the BJP came to power at the Centre, the height was increased from 138 metres to 192 metres. He said the 18.25 MAF (million acre-feet) of water accorded to Madhya Pradesh was never utilised and the state, at best, gets to use 12 MAF of water.
BJP state general secretary Rahul Kothari accused the Congress of spreading canards. “Issues between states pending for 30 years have been resolved,” he said.
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