Gujarat has around 21 large dams, among the total number of 541 Indian Dams. Ukai Dam near Surat was called as the mega project in the state. The storage capacity of Ukai dam is almost 46% of the total capacity of all the other existing dams in Gujarat if put together. Thus it can be concluded that the rest of the dams have as little as 0.1% average storage capacity.
The Sardar Sarovar Dam is one of the major projects executed in Gujarat. 30 large dams were planned for River Narmada in Gujarat; the Sardar Sarovar Dam being the largest has a height of 136.5 m (455 feet). Inspite of all the commotion created by the Narmada Bachao Andolan`s members, the multi-purpose Sardar Sarovar Project (SSP) irrigated more than 1.8 million hectares.
The 5 major projects of Gujarat are the Dharoi, Dantiwada, Kadana, Ukai and Sardar Sarovar. These projects are considered to be the prime sources of water for irrigation and drinking across the state. These 5 Dams holding national importance, were primarily constructed to control floods, but later started to function as water suppliers and reservoirs.
The Dharoi Dam is located at Dharoi in Sabarkantha District. It was built for supplying drinking water to urban areas such as Ahmedabad that is located 85 km away. Dharoi Dam stands across the Sabarmati River ever since 1973. Vasana Berej is built on the Sabarmati River near Ahmedabad. Dantiwada Dam constructed on the fringes of Dantiwada in Banaskantha District of Gujarat. This dam stands across the Banas River and was built in 1965. The Kadana Dam on River Mahi was build to control floods in the catchment area of Gujarat.
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