“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.”
