Though realty players like Hindustan Construction Company (HCC) believe that Kalpasar dam is a must for development of Dholera city, planners are of a different opinion.
They aim to source water for the proposed city from Narmada Canal.
Planners had explored different sources of water including Narmada canal, Periyej Reservoirs and Kanewal Reservoirs, desalination project and Kalpasar dam to quench the thirst of Dholera city. However, Narmada water through the Vallabhipur and Dholka branch was found to be the only viable option to meet water demands of the city, sources said.
As per an estimate, the new city will require around 950 million litres per day (MLD) by 2030 and Narmada canal will help in meeting these needs in the initial phase.
Also, if the state government decides to go ahead with the construction of the Kalpasar dam, it will provide additional water supply to Dholera city.
The possibility of constructing additional water reservoirs can also be explored.
However, as most rivers flow in full capacity only during monsoon, rivers need to be linked with tributaries of Narmada canal for uninterrupted flow of water, said sources.
The discharge from the Vallabhipur branch is about 70 cubic meter per sec (Cusec) at the head of the canal, while discharge from the Dholka branch is about 57 cusecs. Around 10% of water from these branches will be diverted to Dholera to provide enough stream to proposed Dholera Special Investment Region (DSIR), said sources. According to them, using Narmada water through Vallabhipur branch could be the most viable option, considering that it is only 10 km from storage tank at DSIR. Transportation cost could be avoided as water can be sent to the storage tank using gravity.
Sources also said that ambitious Kalpasar dam project would be in favour of DSIR as it would provide additional water.
Other options of using Periyej Reservoir and Kanewal Reservoir are not feasible because water stored in these reservoirs is already allocated for other purposes. Desalination would be a costly affair because of distance of the city from open sea.
