• Composition of the NWDT
  The NWDT was headed by a sitting Judge of the Supreme Court of India. The other two members were sitting Judge of High Courts. The details are as under:

  Chairman
  Shri V. Ramaswami
  (Judge of the Supreme Court of India upto 29.10.1969)

  Member
  Shri A. K. Sinha
  (Judge of the Calcutta High Court upto 31.10.1974)
  
  Shri M.R.A. Ansari
  (Chief Justice of the J&K High Court upto 14.11.1977)

The following were also Members of the Narmada Water Disputes Tribunal for the period indicated:

Shri G.C. Mathur
(Judge of the Allahabad High Court)
(from 6.10.69 to 2.5.70)

Shri E. Venkatasam
(Judge of the Andhra Pradesh High Court)
(from 7.5.70 to 29.10.74)

Shri V.P. Gopalan Nambiyar
(Chief Justice of the Kerala High Court)
(from 6.10.69 to 7.11.77)

• Eminent Assessors were involved in finalizing the intricate technical issues. The judges of NWDT took their help wherever they felt necessary. The details of Eminent Assessors are as under:

  Dr. M.R. Chopra
  Retired Chairman, Central Water & Power Commission &
  Former Vice Chancellor of Roorkee University
  (Whole-time)

  Shri C.S. Padmanabha Aiyar
  Retired Chief Engineer
  Government of Kerala (Part-time)

  Shri Balwant Singh Nag
  Retired Adviser, Planning Commission
  Government of India, New Delhi (Whole-time)

  Dr. Ambika Singh
  Assistant Director-General
  Indian Council of Agricultural Research (Part-time)

  Dr. H.B. Hukkeri
  Assistant Director-General
  Indian Council of Agricultural Research (Part-time)

• In the Gazette of India Part II - Section 3 - Sub section (ii) dated 12.12.1979, inter alia following is mentioned:

  "Clause XVI: Period of Operation of certain clauses of the Final Order
  In addition to Clause III and IV (mentioned in Clause V), our orders in Clause VII with regards to Full Reservoir Level and Maximum Water Level of the Sardar Sarovar Dam, Clause VIII with regard to Regulated Releases to be made by Madhya Pradesh for the Requirement of Sardar Sarovar Project, Clause X with regard to Payment to be made by Gujarat to Madhya Pradesh for such Regulated Releases, Clause XIII with regard to Allocation of Irrigation and Power, Clause XII with regard to Allocation of Irrigation Component of cost of Sardar Sarovar Project between Gujarat and Rajasthan and Clause XIV as regards Machinery are all made subject to review at any time after a period of 45 years from the date of publication of the Decision of the Tribunal in the Official Gazette."

  From the above, it is concluded that Award was gazetted on 12.12.1979 and became binding to all till 11.12.2024. The Award can be reviewed any time after 11.12.2024 only
  

• May, 1972
  Five assessors were appointed by the Tribunal having expertise in Hydrology, Agriculture, Civil Engineering and Power Engineering.

• 12th July, 1974
  Agreement between Chief Ministers of Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Rajasthan and Advisor to Government of Gujarat, regarding available quantity of water in river Narmada and agreeing that requirements of Maharashtra and Rajasthan for use in their territories, was 0.5 MAF and 0.25 MAF respectively.

• 12th Dec., 1974 to 15th Feb., 1978
  Hearing before Tribunal :
  In the course of the hearing, about 3000 documents were filed by the party-State. In the course of the proceedings, party-States were directed to
  undertake and file respective studies pertaining to interlaid :
• Area to be submerged in party-States on account of the proposed projects of party-States in the context of the 30 major dam projects.
• Rehabilitation measures that were proposed by the party - States.
• Studies regarding hydrology of the entire river.
• Studies regarding Bharuch Project (later SSP).

Next

Back to History