Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated Kutch Branch Canal at Narmada, Gujrat

Tags: National National News

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 28 August inaugurated the 357.18-kilometer-long Kutch Branch Canal (KBC).

IMPORTANT FACTS -

• KBC stretched from the Sardar Sarovar Narmada Dam in Narmada district 750 kilometres away, to the last of the villages of Gujarat’s Mandvi taluka, Mod Kuba.

• The dam will help in providing irrigation facilities to Kutch and drinking water to all 948 villages and 10 towns of Kutch district.

• The total length of the canal is about 357 km.

• A part of the canal was inaugurated by the Prime Minister in 2017 and the remaining part has been inaugurated now.

• Built at a cost of Rs 6493 crore, the Sardar Sarovar Narmada Nigam Limited (SSNNL) officials have claimed this dam as "the longest branch dam in the world".

About Sardar Sarovar Dam :

• The foundation stone of the project was laid by Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru on 5 April, 1961.

• It is a concrete gravity dam built on the Narmada river in Navagam near the town of Kevadiya, Narmada District, in the state of Gujarat.

• It was built to provide water and electricity to the four Indian states of Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Rajasthan.

• It is located in Gujarat's Narmada district, on the border of Gujarat and Maharashtra.

• It irrigates drought prone areas in Gujarat and arid regions of Barmer and Jalore districts of Rajasthan.

• The dam also provides flood protection to 210 villages and Bharuch city.

Narmada River :

• Narmada river is the largest west flowing river of the peninsular region.

• It flows through a rift valley between the Vindhya Range on the north and the Satpura Range on the south.

• It originates from the Maikalla range near Amarkantak in Madhya Pradesh.

• Major Tributaries of Narmada- Hiran, Orsang, the Barna and the Kolar.