Restructuring water landscapes in the interest of prosperity and national identity building continues to govern contemporary Indian ideology, and has displaced close to 40 million people over the years. Adding to the social implications of these massive, politically driven migrations are the ecological consequences of the drastic transformation of the landscape to serve productive and economic purposes.
First envisaged in the 1940s, the NVDP comprises 30 large dams, 135 medium dams and 3000 small dams and aims to provide potable water to almost 40 million people, irrigation for over five million hectares of land and hydroelectric power for the entire region. The largest amongst these components is the Sardar Sarovar Project, which will bring additional irrigation capacity, drinking water and 1450 megawatts of hydro power to Gujarat and Rajasthan.