MODI SAYS WB HAD DENIED LOAN FOR DAM

Dabhoi (Gujarat), Sept. 17: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday inaugurated the Sardar Sarovar Dam on the Narmada river, saying no other project in the world has faced so many hurdles as this “engineering miracle” which many people had “conspired to stop”.

“I have knowledge (kacha chittha) of everyone who tried to stall this project, but I will not name them as I do not want to go on that route,” Mr Modi said.

“A massive misinformation campaign was launched against the project. The World Bank which had earlier agreed to fund the project, refused to give loan for it raising environmental concerns. But, with or without the World Bank, we completed the massive project on our own,” Mr Modi said.

“When the World Bank refused money for Sardar Sarovar Dam, temples of Gujarat had donated for the project,” he said.

Thanking the tribal families who were displaced by the project, Mr Modi said, “India will remember and honour their sacrifice for development of the country.”

Paying tributes to Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel and B.R. Ambedkar, he said had the two stalwarts lived longer, the dam would have been completed in the ‘60s and ‘70s itself, boosting the economy and combating the problems of drought and floods. The opening of the dam, called the ‘Lifeline of Gujarat’, comes ahead of the state Assembly polls due this year.