NARMADA WATER DISPUTES TRIBUNAL (OCTOBER, 1969)

Under Section-4 of the Inter-State Water Disputes Act, 1956, the Central Government constituted Narmada Water Disputes Tribunal (NWDT) on 6th Oct. 1969 to adjudicate upon the sharing of Narmada waters and Narmada River Valley Development under the Chairmanship of Justice V. Ramaswami.

Award Of The Tribunal

The Tribunal gave its Award on 7th Dec., 1979. The NWDT Award was notified by Government of India on 12th December, 1979, whereupon it became final and binding on the parties to the dispute. The Award specified quantum of utilisable waters at 75% dependability to be shared by the four States of Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Rajasthan as under:-

Sl No.	STATE	FLOW
1	Gujarat	9.00 MAF
2	Madhya Pradesh	18.25 MAF
3	Maharashtra	0.25 MAF
4	Rajasthan	0.50 MAF
4	Total	28.00 MAF

(MAF-Million Acre Feet)

The Tribunal determined that the height of the Sardar Sarovar Dam should be fixed for Full Reservoir Level (FRL) of 138.68 m (455 ft.). and also directed Government of Gujarat (GOG) to take up and complete the construction of the dam accordingly. According to Clause-16 of the final orders of the Tribunal, the parameters of shares of utilisable waters by the States, FRL of the reservoir and Full Supply Level (FSL) of Navagam Canal are made subject to review at any time after a period of 45 years from the date of publication of the Award of the Tribunal in the official gazette.