Bhavnath Temple

Executive Summary:

The case deals with the problems faced while building a dam

across the rivers Lokmata and Sadmata in northern Gujarat and

further issues encountered while a proposal is made to raise the

control levels of it. The objective of the case is to maximize the

irrigation potential of the dam while respecting the religious

sentiments of the people. The options are either to implement

the former plan in its present form or the latter by convincing

the people of its benefits and deal with the issues faced. The

conclusion is to try and implement the new plan resulting in

maximization of irrigation and revenues.

Word Count: 104

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Situational Analysis:

The setting of the case is in North Gujarat in the period just after

independence. The government has proposed to build an earthen

dam across the rivers Lokmata and Sadmata to improve

irrigational facilities in three districts. India was then a primarily

agrarian economy and agriculture was largely dependent on rain

and North Gujarat being a water starved area would benefit

immensely from the construction of this dam by making water

available all throughout the year. The authorities have made a

new proposal to raise the level of dam which would result in the

submergence of the Bhavnath temple located in the projected

reservoir and this has resulted in the villagers strongly opposing

the project. The central issue that the Bhavnath Temple Case

deals with is the balance between economic development and

religious sentiments of the people.

Under Plan A the dam was to impound 4700 million cu.ft of

water irrigating 92,000 acres of land at a cost of 1.7 crores. It

was expected that the increase in agricultural production would

be 30,400 tons every year and this was valued at 1.4774 crores.

The new plan (Plan B) called for raising the irrigation potential

of the dam by raising the level the three control levels. The dam

would now hold 5,700 million cu.ft of water and was estimated

Case Study: Bhavnath Temple

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to cost 1.9 crores. Therefore, an 11.7 % increase in cost could

result in the area under irrigation, agricultural production and

revenues to increase by 21.2 %. But the new plan would result

in the temple being completely submerged and could not be

saved with the steps taken to save the temple incorporated in the

former. As a consequence the villagers have vehemently

opposed the raising of the dam levels.

The objective of the case is to maximize the irrigation potential

of the dam while respecting the religious sentiments of the

people.

Options:

1. Move ahead with the revised plan by convincing the

people of its benefits and relocate the temple.

2. Continue with the execution of Plan A.

1. The new plan raises the irrigation potential and revenues from

the project as stated above (para 2) There is only a marginal

addition to the cost of construction of the canal system for the

irrigation facilities to spread to a larger area. The compensation


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paid to the villages and providing for new houses had already

been factored and had been added to the direct cost of

constructing the dam in Plan A. The people seemed happy with

this arrangement(for relocation) and there would be no extra

cost added for compensation paid as there is no mention that

additional people have been displaced to implement Plan B.

There is also no increase in the effort put in by the authorities to

provide the displaced people with new sources of livelihood. As

there was widespread poverty in the country the increase in

revenue has to be given a lot of weight age because as

mentioned earlier, the economy was largely agrarian and

agriculture was the major source of income. The increase in

agricultural production as a result of increasing the control

levels of the dam would also contribute to the food security of

the area if not to the country.

The only negative of Plan B is that the Bhavnath temple would

be submerged in spite of the steps taken to protect it in Plan A.

The temple was very important to the inhabitants of the area and

the temple fair attracted people from far which could have been

a source of income to the locals. The authorities had suggested

that the temple deities be shifted to an alternative location

observing full religious rites, but this could still hurt the


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religious sentiments of a section of the people including the

temple priests whose livelihood depends on the temple.

2. Plan A calls for the FSL and HFL levels to be fixed at 592

and 596 respectively. This plan has in principle been agreed to

by the people living in the area and they seemed to be happy

with it. The temple could be protected from submergence by

building a water weir and also all weather access was to be

provided by the government. This plan protected the religious

sentiments of the people.

But Plan A does not realize the full irrigation potential of the

project by not maximizing agricultural production and thus

revenues with only a minimal increase in costs.

Based on the evaluation of the options, Plan B should be

implemented.

The action plan would include:

1. Providing the extra funding (20 lakhs) for the project to

raise the FSL and the HFL levels.

2. Educating and convincing the people of the benefits of

raising the dam levels. This would include the fact that


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the land under irrigation would increase and as a direct

consequence the amount of revenue earned by the people

in the area would increase and also the food security of

the area would improve. Also, the dam could be a tourist

attraction and attract people from the surrounding areas

thus generating extra revenue.

3. Holding consultations with the village heads as well as

the temple priests and decide upon how the temple

should be relocated and finding a suitable alternative

location for it.

4. Generation of a political will on the part of the

government to implement a plan which might turn out to

be a sensitive issue but would provide long term

economic growth for the area.

Contingency Plan:

If the people are still opposed to the implementation of Plan B,

Plan A in its present form should be implemented as it has been

agreed to by them. A dam would not only provide water for


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irrigation all year round but also protect the area from floods in

case of heavy rains.

Word Count: 964.


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Exhibits:

Specifications of the dam:

Specification: Value:

Irrigation Area 92,000 acres

Catchment Area 230 sq. Miles

Villages effected 20

Villages completely

submerged

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Average rainfall 34”

Increase agricultural

production

30,400 tons


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Component

Original

Specifications

of dam

Modified

Specifications

of dam under

new proposal

FSL-Full

Supply Level

592 595

HFL-Highest

Flood Level

596 606

RL-Reduced

Level

601 601

Cost 1.7 crores 1.9 crores

Reservoir

Capacity

4700 million cu. ft. 5700 million cu. ft.

Approximate increase in cost of the project by implementing

Plan B = 20 lakhs / 1700 lakhs

= 11.7%


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Approximate increase in the area under irrigation, agricultural

production, revenues and reservoir capacity = 1000 mil cu.ft /

4700 mil cu.ft

= 21.2 %

NOTE: The figure of 21.2% has been arrived upon by only

calculating the increase in the reservoir capacity. It has been

assumed that the area irrigation and revenue would

proportionally increase.


Bhavnath Temple

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