Ashish Kothari and Rahul Ram, 1994

The Sardar Sarovar Project (SSP), the largest and most expensive river valley project ever initiated in India, is often described by its proponents as Gujarat’s lifeline. However its critics feel that it may be one of India’s largest planned ecological disasters. In this book, the environmental aspects of the SSP are discussed in terms accessible to a lay reader. It describes the need for an Environmental Impact Assessment of the project and explains why it is lacking, how conditional environmental clearance was granted to it, and how that clearance has effectively lapsed, and also, whether the SSP can be justified at all. Basic ideas about environmental impacts of dams and irrigation projects are clearly spelt out, therefore setting up a framework within which projects other than SSP can also be examined.

pp. 50, Rs. 30, USD 3

Limited Edition. A photocopied version can be made available at Rs. 35

Rahul Ram, 1993; Revised Second Edition, 1994

The Sardar Sarovar Project (SSP) is the largest and most expensive multipurpose river project ever to be initiated in India. It is claimed that it will be able to drought-proof Gujarat by irrigating 1.8 million ha of land and by supplying drinking water to 40 million people. In addition it will have an installed capacity of 1450 MW of power. However none of these claimed benefits have ever been comprehensively and critically scrutinized. This is the task that ‘Muddy Waters’ sets out to do, using project planning documents and studies commissioned by the Government of Gujarat and the World Bank. It shows that the claims made about the SSP are grossly exaggerated, that the project is unlikely to live up to its promises and that it is imperative that the project be critically reviewed as soon as possible to prevent further wastage of our national wealth.

pp. 40, Rs. 15, USD 3

Limited Edition. A photocopied version can be made available at Rs. 35