Question

Why is Sardar Sarovar Project considered important for Gujarat?

Answer 1

Concept:

• A one-mark source question is answered from the figures given in the passage itself.
• The passage gives the area, the number of villages and districts covered, and the share of that area which is drought prone.

Step 1: Read the scale of irrigation promised.
The project will provide irrigation facilities to 18.45 lakh hectare of land, covering 3112 villages in 15 districts of Gujarat.

Step 2: Read why that water is so badly needed.
About 75 per cent of the command area in Gujarat is drought prone, which means three quarters of the land it will serve cannot rely on rainfall.

Step 3: State what the project will change.
Assured water supply will soon make this area drought proof, so farming in these districts will no longer depend on an uncertain monsoon.

Final Answer: The project is important for Gujarat because it will irrigate 18.45 lakh hectare of land across 3112 villages in 15 districts, and since about 75 per cent of that command area is drought prone, an assured water supply will make the region drought proof.

Answer 2

Concept:

• A large river project is planned around a river basin, and a basin rarely lies inside one state.
• The passage names the four states and the kind of area each of them needs water for.

Step 1: Name the four states.
The project covers Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat and Rajasthan, and the source calls it one of the largest water resources projects of India.

Step 2: Note the common need that links them.
The project would meet the requirement of water in drought prone and desert areas. All four states have such areas, so all four stand to gain from the same stored water.

Step 3: Note the specific benefit spelt out for each.
Gujarat gets irrigation for 18.45 lakh hectare, Rajasthan gets 2,46,000 hectare in the desert districts of Barmer and Jalore, and Maharashtra gets 37,500 hectare in its tribal hilly tract through lift.

Final Answer: It covers four states because the Narmada waters can serve drought prone and desert areas lying in Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat and Rajasthan, and each of these states receives a defined share of irrigation from the same project.

Answer 3

Concept:

• Sustainability means meeting present needs in a way that does not destroy the ability of the future to meet its own.
• For a water project this shows up as reliable supply, better use of a scarce resource, and protection of livelihoods over the long term.

Step 1: It makes the water supply reliable instead of seasonal.
The source says that assured water supply will soon make this area drought proof. Storing monsoon water and releasing it through the year turns an uncertain resource into a dependable one.

Step 2: It puts water where it is scarcest.
The project carries water to the strategic desert districts of Barmer and Jalore in Rajasthan and to the tribal hilly tract of Maharashtra through lift. Land that could not support settled farming is brought into use.

Step 3: It secures livelihoods for the long term.
With irrigation reaching 18.45 lakh hectare across 3112 villages in 15 districts of Gujarat, farming families are no longer forced to migrate after a failed monsoon. A settled livelihood is itself a sustainable one.

Step 4: It uses one structure to serve many purposes.
A single multi-purpose project supplies irrigation, drinking water and power, instead of separate schemes each taking its own land and materials. This is a more economical use of resources.

Final Answer: The project promotes sustainability by converting an uncertain monsoon into an assured year-round supply, by carrying water to desert and tribal areas that had none, by securing farming livelihoods against drought, and by meeting several needs through one structure.