A minor tremour of 3.2 magnitude on the Richter scale was recorded last week, just 12 kilometers away from Sardar Sarovar dam at Kevadia in South Gujarat. The tremours occurred at a depth of 12.7 kilometres and no damages or loss of lives have been reported. Nevertheless, this is the second time that the area has witnessed such tremours in the past 25 days.
Gandhinagar-based Institute of Seismological Research (ISR) has been studying seismic activity near the dam for a few years. However, not much solid information has been gathered yet.
In 1970, Bharuch witnessed an earthquake measured at 5.4 magnitude that sent tremours through the Narmada rift zone. The latest major earthquake in the region occurred in November 2020 measuring 4.4 on the Richter scale. ISR believes that the Narmada fault could produce an earthquake that is as high as 6.5 on the Richter scale.
Besides this, since early this month, Gujarat has been receiving heavy to very heavy rains. This has increased the level of water at the Narmada dam to 119.80 meters. An inflow of 44,957 cusecs of water has been reported.
Although rains have currently slowed down, they are expected to hit the state after July 22. This will further contribute to raising the water levels.
