The long wait may finally be over. Come December and the fate of the SSP could be decided. The Supreme Court is expected to set a date for the final hearing on the future of the project in the next two months. Besides going into all the aspects of the project, including the resettlement and rehabilitation issues which were raised in the NBA's original petition filed in 1993, it would also study the report of the Jayant Patil Committee, a five-member review panel set up in 1993 to examine the project.
There are other issues which also have to be resolved. Firstly, there is the need to obtain a firm guarantee on the fund flow for the River Bed Power House(RBPH), With Japan having withdrawn its grant. And although Puroshottam Bhai Rupala, minister for Narmada affairs, water resources and irrigation, says Gujarat "will pay for the RBPH, come what may", he draws a blank when asked where he will get the funds from.
A favourable verdict would clear the first hurdle. But several other bottlenecks will have to be eased to ensure that the project does not run into high waters.
