Guj hails SSP ruling, says money to be paid to MP at earliest

Gujarat government today hailed the Supreme Court's ruling on Narmada dam project and assured that it would pay Rs 400 crore to Madhya Pradesh for the disbursement to the project affected families at the earliest.
Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani said the apex court's judgement on Sardar Sarovar Project was "historic", delivered keeping in mind the larger interests of the people of his state, an official statement said here.
Deputy Chief Minister Nitin Patel said the state government will give Rs 400 crore to Madhya Pradesh for distribution to around 600 affected families as compensation for loss of land.
The Supreme Court today cleared the decks for monetary compensation for those affected by SSP on river Narmada in Madhya Pradesh, ordering Rs 60 lakh for each of the 681 families which are likely to be displaced.

It ordered compensation of Rs 60 lakh per family for two hectares of land with an undertaking that the families would vacate the land within one month.
The court asked Gujarat government to give the money to Madhya Pradesh for further distribution.

"With this verdict, all the disputes pertaining to rehabilitation of project oustees will come to an end. This judgement has paved the way to expedite the work on the dam. Once filled to the brim, this dam will provide water to lakhs of farmers and citizens of Gujarat," said Nitin Patel.
Though Prime Minister Narendra Modi gave permission to install gates on the dam within 17 days of coming to power in 2014, it was not possible to fill the dam to the brim due to the rehabilitation issues, Patel said.

"MP government is required to pay compensation to around 600 affected families. It comes to around Rs 400 crore, which will be borne by Gujarat government. With this, all the oustees are now required to shift elsewhere by August," said the deputy CM, adding the money will paid to MP at the earliest.