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The Narmada River in central India

The Narmada (Gujarati: નર્મદા Devanagri: नर्मदा or Nerbudda (Narbada)) is a river in central India in Indian subcontinent. It forms the traditional boundary between North India and South India, and is a total of 1,289 km (801 mi) long. It is one of only three major rivers in pensinsular India that run from east to west, along with the Tapi and the Mahi river. It is the only river in India that flows in a rift valley. It rises on the summit of Amarkantak Hill in madhya pradesh state, and for the first 320 kilometres (200 miles) of its course winds among the Mandla Hills, which form the head of the Satpura Range; then at Jabalpur, passing through the 'Marble Rocks', it enters the Narmada Valley between the Vindhya and Satpura ranges, and pursues a direct westerly course to the Gulf of Cambay. It flows through the states of Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, and Gujarat, and empties into the Arabian Sea in the Bharuch District of Gujarat.

The Narmada Valley is a graben, a layered block of the earth's crust that dropped down relative to the blocks on either side due to ancient spreading of the earth's crust. Two normal faults, known as the Narmada North fault and Narmada South fault, parallel the river's course, and mark the boundary between the Narmada block and the Vindhya and Satpura blocks or horsts which rose relative to the Narmada Graben. The Narmada's watershed includes the northern slopes of the Satpuras, and the steep southern slope of the Vindhyas, but not the Vindhyan tableland, the streams from which flow into the Ganges and Yamuna. The Narmada valley is considered extremely important for paleontological studies in India. Several dinosaur fossils have been found in the area including Titanosaurus indicus found in 1877 by Richard Lydekker and the recently discovered Rajasaurus narmadensis.

The Narmada river is considered extremely holy by Hindus. It is said that just the sight of the river is enough to wash away all sins. The river has beautiful ghats built on its banks in Hoshangabad. Its longest tributary is the Tawa, which joins the Narmada at Bandra Bhan in Hoshangabad District, Madhya Pradesh. After leaving Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra, the river widens out in the fertile district of Bharuch. Below Bharuch city it forms a 20 kilometre wide estuary where it enters the Gulf of Cambay. The Narmada river is not only used for irrigation, but for navigation. In the rainy season boats of considerable size sail about 100 kilometres above Bharuch city. Seagoing vessels of about 70 tons frequent the port of Bharuch, but they are entirely dependent on the tide.

The Sardar Sarovar Project was first conceived in the 1940s by India's first Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, but the project didn't begin to become a reality until 1979. The goal of the project is to create around 3200 small, medium and large dams along the length of the river, with the Sardar Sarovar dam being the largest.

Proponents of the dam project argue that the dam will provide hydroelectric power to the entire region, as well as helping to irrigate the arid regions of Gujarat, namely north Gujarat, Saurashtra, and Kachchh (also sometimes spelled Kutch). The combined benefits would reach some 50 million people.

Those who oppose the dam counter that the damage caused by the dam will far outweigh any potential benefits. The group Narmada Bachao Andolan (Save the Narmada Movement) leads the opponents of the dam's construction, and maintains that besides causing serious damage to the region's natural ecology (a recognized consequence of large-scale dam construction), will cause the displacement of millions of poor peasants and tribal members, causing not only a loss of livelihood, but a loss of an historical way of life. Some scientists have also claimed that building the dam will make the region more prone to earthquakes, and there are concerns over whether or not the state could adequately maintain the dam. Furthermore, the river supplies water to residents in Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Chattisgarh, and Rajasthan, and there are fears that the dam will block the flow of water to these regions, causing widespread devastation in some of the most arid parts of India. Over the past decade, major international organizations such as the World Bank have withdrawn funding for the project, citing such concerns.

The dam has caused such controversy that in 1999, a case against its construction went to the Indian Supreme Court, which ruled in favour of the state, criticizing the actions of Narmada Bachao Andolan. The court set the height of the dam at 90 [metres] until an environmental task-force had examined the issue. However, the Supreme Court also ordered rehabilitation for all those affected by the dam's construction, and in March 2005 ruled to halt construction on the dam until this had happened. Construction of the dam is now halted at 110.6 metres, a figure that is much higher than the 88 metres proposed by the activists, and lower than the 130 metres that the dam is eventually supposed to reach. It is unclear at this point what the final outcome of the project will be or when it will be completed, though the entire project is meant to be finished by 2025.