Why in the news?
The Gujarat state government has awarded the contract for a barrage project to a joint venture of Dilip Buildcon Ltd and Hindustan Construction Company Ltd.
Salient Features
The Rs-4,167-crore Bhadbhut project in Bharuch is meant to solve freshwater problems in this region of Gujarat.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2017 has laid the foundation stone.
The Bhadbhut project is planned to be a 1.7-km causeway-cum-weir barrage with 90 gates, across the river Narmada, 5 km from Bhadbhut village, and 25 km from the mouth of the river, where it flows into the Gulf of Khambhat.
The sweet water from the reservoir will aim to meet the residential and industrial water requirements of Bharuch, Ankleshwar and Dahej.
The project is part of the larger Kalpasar Project, which entails construction of a 30-km dam across the Gulf of Khambhat between Bharuch and Bhavnagar districts.
Causes of protest
The project has faced protests from local fishermen for its likely impact on fishing patterns, notably those of hilsa.
A marine fish, hilsa migrate upstream and arrives in the brackish water of the Narmada estuary near Bharuch for spawning usually during the monsoon months of July and August, and continue doing so till November.
Once the barrage is built, it is expected to block their natural entry.
(Source: Indian Express)
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