Sardar Sarovar project inaugurated: Here's all you need to know about world's second biggest dam

New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday inaugurated world's second biggest dam Sardar Sarovar, 56 years after its foundation stone was laid by former PM Jawaharlal Nehru.

Taking to Twitter, PM Modi had yesterday tweeted,"Tomorrow, Sardar Sarovar Dam will be dedicated to the nation. This project will benefit lakhs of farmers & help fulfil people’s aspirations." 

Tomorrow, Sardar Sarovar Dam will be dedicated to the nation. This project will benefit lakhs of farmers & help fulfil people’s aspirations. — Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) September 16, 2017

Here are 10 amazing facts you should know about the Sardar Sarvovar Dam:

-  It is the second biggest dam in the world after the Grand Coulee Dam in the United States. 

-  As per the reports of NDTV, each gate of the sardar Sarovar Dam weighs over 450 tonnes and it takes nearly one hour to close them. 

- The 1.2-km-long dam which is 163 metres deep has till date produced 4,141 crore units of electricity from its two powerhouses -- river bed powerhouse and canal head powerhouse -- with an installed capacity of 1,200 MW and 250 MW, respectively.

- All the villages and urban centres of the arid region of Saurashtra and Kachchh and all “no source” villages and the villages affected by salinity and fluoride in North Gujarat will be benefited.

-  The power generated from the dam would be shared among three states -- Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Gujarat.

- Fifty-seven percent of the electricity produced from the dam goes to Maharashtra, while Madhya Pradesh gets 27 per cent and 16 per cent goes to Gujarat.

-  As per SSP officials, the dam will irrigate 2,46,000 hectares of land in the strategically important desert districts of Barmer and Jalore in Rajasthan, and 37,500 hectares in the tribal hilly tract of Maharashtra.

-The dam has earned over Rs. 16,000 crore, more than double the cost of its construction,

- A special allocation of 0.86 million cubic feet (MAF) of water has been made to provide drinking water to 131 urban centres and 9,633 villages, which is 53 per cent of the total 18,144 villages of Gujarat.

- According to Gujarat CM Rupani, over 18 lakh hectares of land in the state would be benefitted with irrigation as Narmada water will flow to over 9,000 villages of Gujarat through a canal network.

(With inputs from agencies)