Week 2 Narrative

Background and Contextual Knowledge of the Narmada District and a Brief History of both the Sardar Sarovar Dam and Kevadiya Colony

Narmada District is located in the southern part of the State of Gujarat in India. More precisely its geographical location is 72.40° to 73.15° East (Longitude) and 21.24° to 22.00° North (Latitude). Narmada District has a total land area of 2,755 km² and is bordered by the Vadodara District in the north, the State of Maharashtra in the east, the Surat District in the south, and the Bharuch District in the west. Narmada District has four talukas (counties) which include: Nandod, Sagbara, Tilakwada, and Dediapada. The urban center Rajpipla is located within the Nandod taluka and is Narmada District’s primary headquarters and main industrial town. 

According to the official 2011 Census released by the Directorate of Census Operations in Gujarat, the total population of Narmada District was 590,379 with a population growth of 14.77% since 2001. Narmada District is one of the least populous districts in Gujarat with a population density of 214 people per km² and contributes 0.98% to the total population of the State of Gujarat. Table 2 (below) is a summary of the 2011 Census that was conducted by the Government of India in the Narmada District, Gujarat, India. The languages utilized in Narmada District include: Gujarati, Hindi, and English.

Table 2: 2011 Census Data for Narmada District, Gujarat, India*^, **

Description	Rural	Urban
Population (%)	89.56%	10.44%
Total Population	528,765	61,614
Male Population	269,709	31,561
Female Population	259,056	30,053
Sex Ratio	961	952
Child Sex Ratio (0-6)	940	893
Child Population (0-6)	69,318	5,908
Male Child (0-6)	35,723	3,121
Female Child (0-6)	33,595	2,787
Child Percentage (0-6)	13.11%	9.59%
Male Child Percentage	13.25%	9.89%
Female Child Percentage	12.97%	9.27%
Literates	328,354	49,188
Male Literates	190,131	26,624
Female Literates	138,223	22,564
Average Literacy	71.47%	88.30%
Male Literacy	81.26%	93.61%
Female Literacy	61.31%	82.76%

*Of the total population of Narmada District, 90% is composed of the tribal villages and the majority of the tribal villagers live on or below the poverty line.

**The 2011 Census Data and Statistics are a representative of Narmada District as a whole and is not a representative of the tribal populations of the Satpuda Region.

The main industrial sectors of this region include: textiles, food and agricultural production, and chemicals. However, the major stratum of the population—the rural population—is dependent upon agriculture for their primary source of income (especially during the monsoon season). Both banana and cotton are the main horticulture crops within Narmada District. In more urbanized settings, industries producing textiles, sugar, chemicals, wood products, paper, and food products, as well as repair and services are prevalent and are the drivers of the urban economy.

There are five main rivers that flow through the Narmada District: the Narmada, the Karjan, the Main, the Ashwini, and the Tarap River. In order to provide more water to irrigate more than 18,000 km² of land in Gujarat—especially drought prone areas of Kutch and Saurashthra—and generate additional electric power, the Sardar Sarovar Dam was built on the banks of the Narmada River. This project was undertaken based on its potential to: (1) feed up to twenty million people, (2) provide both personal and commercial water use for at least thirty million people, (3) provide temporary sources of employment for the construction of the dam for about one million people, and (4) provide valuable and necessary peak electricity to areas of critical and high unmet power supply demand. This project was undertaken by the Government of the State of Gujarat. To house approximately one million employees working on the Sardar Sarovar Dam, the Indian Government produced multiple housing complexes which grew and took form of a small, flourishing urban town known as Kevadiya Colony.

After the completion of the Sardar Sarovar Dam, much of the inhabitance of Kevadiya Colony left to seek employment elsewhere; however, the people who had started up small-scale businesses in Kevadiya Colony remained allowing the small urban town to continue to flourish. Currently, a number of the housing units in Kevadiya Colony remain empty; however, many of housing courters are occupied by Sardar Sarovar Dam maintenance workers, government employed officials, police department officials and recruits, small business owners, nongovernmental organizations (including Anoopam Mission’s Project ASHA staff and medical professionals—who are offering their services to the surrounding tribal villages).