India Mint Stamp

Lokith Philately

Permanent Pictorial cancellation of Gujarat

Permanent Pictorial Cancellation inaugural day covers

Date of issue: 09.10.1990

Pin code: 393151

Status: Active

PO Name: Kevadia Colony

Description: The Sardar Sarovar Dam is located on the Narmada River near Kevadiya, which is now called Ekta Nagar in the Narmada district of Gujarat. It was built to provide water and electricity to Gujarat and neighbouring states. The project started in 1946 to improve irrigation and generate power. The foundation stone was laid by Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru in 1961. In 1964, the government formed a committee to address disagreements over water sharing between Gujarat and neighbouring states, but Madhya Pradesh did not agree. This led to the Narmada Water Dispute Tribunal in 1969, which issued its final decision in 1979. The project officially began as part of a development plan funded by the World Bank, which provided a $200 million loan. Construction of the dam started in 1987 but paused in 1995 due to concerns about displacing people. Work resumed in 2000-01, and the dam’s height was raised to 111 meters. It increased to 123 meters in 2006 and 139 meters in 2017. 

The Sardar Sarovar Dam is 1,210 meters long and was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2017. It is the largest dam on the Narmada River and the second-largest concrete dam in the world by volume. The Narmada Valley Project includes multiple large dams for irrigation and hydroelectric power. By 2014, the final height reached 163 meters. This dam will irrigate about 1.9 million hectares, especially in the drought-prone areas of Kutch and Saurashtra. The main power plant has six Francis pump turbines, each with a capacity of 200 MW, and a pumped-storage system. Additionally, there is a power plant at the main canal intake with five Kaplan turbine generators, each with a capacity of 50 M.W. The total power capacity of these facilities is 1,450 M.W.