PM Modi dedicates Narmada dam to the nation
What's the story
On his 67th birthday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has dedicated the Sardar Sarovar dam built on the Narmada to the nation. The dedication, which comes 56 years after the dam's foundation was laid by Jawaharlal Nehru, is arguably a part of the BJP's assembly election campaign in election-bound Gujarat. The BJP has woven its campaign around this "lifeline of Gujarat".
Dam's potential
PM Modi emphasizes the potential of the Narmada dam
This is PM Modi's second visit to Gujarat in less than a week after he hosted Japanese PM Shinzo Abe recently. In his speech, PM Modi has emphasized on how the Sardar Sarovar dam will benefit hundreds of thousands of citizens and transform lives and cities. He also said that the dam would become a tourist and a business centre in the coming years.
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The potential of the dam in numbers
The Sardar Sarovar dam will irrigate 21.38 lakh hectares of land in Gujarat, Rajasthan and Maharashtra. 131 urban centres will get drinking water, and 53% of villages in Gujarat will be powered by electricity generated from the dam.
Speech
Modi will not target those who opposed the dam's construction
The Prime Minister also said that he had a list of people who had interfered in the dam's construction. However, Modi said that he wouldn't politicize the issue. He also commemorated Sardar Patel and Dr. B. R. Ambedkar, and said that Sardar Patel would have been happy with the achievement had he been alive.