Kalpsar Project Gets Gujarat Govt Nod

The Gujarat government has decided to go ahead with the implementation of the multi-purpose Kalpsar Project as a long-term strategy to tide over perennial water crisis, generate electricity from tidal waves and create navigation and road transport facilities.

A state government release said the Rs 55,000 crore project, to be completed by 2020, will have a vast fresh water reservoir with gross storage of 16,791 million cubic metre of water, 64.16 km long and 35 metre wide dam across the Gulf of Khambhat connecting Ghogha in Bhavnagar and Hansot in Bharuch district, reducing the distance between the two by 225 km. It will have tidal power generation house with a installed capacity of 5,880 MW.

According to C C Patel, chief coordinator of the project, the pre-feasibility study carried out by the foreign consulting firm concluded that the tidal power generation could be supplemented with creation of sweet water basin by impounding surplus water of the Narmada, Sabarmati, Dhadhar, Mahi and other rivers. This would provide irrigation, water supply and land reclamation benefits.

The study concluded that the development of the Gulf of Khambhat is feasible from technical and socio-economic point of view.

Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi, who has been apprised of the project, has evinced keen interest in its implementation, said Patel.

He said that studies carried out by six teams of national and international experts engaged by the state government revealed that the fresh water lake with appropriate operational rules will maintain acceptable levels of water quality for projected beneficial uses in future.

The studies revealed that after 2021, the Western Regional Grid of India would be able to absorb tidal power, and the unit cost of power generation would compare well in relation to the alternative sources such as thermal and atomic power.

It also established that technology exists for the creation of the dam in an economic and safe way.

The studies brought out that the double basin concept for tidal power should be examined in greater details since it may provide a superior option.

The fresh water lake having reservoir water spread of 2,070 km will impound 16,791 million cubic metre of gross storage, of which live storage will be 12,247 million cubic metre.

Patel said that the financial aspect of the Kalpsar Project would present a new challenge to the international and domestic banking sector, but approaches were available as the project presented robust economic viability.

Tentatively, the project is scheduled to start construction in 2011 and will be completed in 2020, he added.

One of the main environmental negatives has been carefully avoided keeping full reservoir level (FRL) of the fresh water reservoir the same as the high tide level (HTL). Thus there would be no inundation of productive land or displacement of habitats.

Patel pointed out that plight of the population in Saurashtra and surrounding areas provided an unusually strong incentives for the multi-purpose water resource development project and its associated tidal power potential.

The Gulf of Khambhat was identified as promising site for tidal power generation by UNDP expert Eric Wilson in 1975. In 1988-89, a reconnaissance report was prepared for the construction of the dam across the Gulf of Khambhat. Global tenders were floated for carrying out the pre-feasibility study in 1995. and its result was made available in 1998.