Sardar Sarovar Narmada Nigam Limited (SSNNL) authorities have increased the quota of water released into the SSNNL main canal in view of the delayed monsoon this year. This,SSNNL authorities say,will help farmers and industries in north and central Gujarat. Nevertheless,industries in north Gujarat do not seem to be satisfied. Last week,SSNNL was releasing nearly 3,300 cusecs; this week,it has increased the discharge to 7,006 cusecs. The water is being released to 144 kilometres of the SSNNL main canal,which supplies water to the Mahi command area,Fathehwadi command area and also north Gujarat. SSNNL Managing Director R K Tripathi said: All the four states, Gujarat,Maharashtra,Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan,as well as Narmada Control Authority (NCA),had organised a meeting recently. There,it was decided to raise the level of water at the SSNNL reservoir from 111.27 metres to 113.12 metres. At present,we have at least 113.6 metres of water. He added: SSNNL can maintain the level of water in the coming days too,even as it releases more water into the main canal. The reason for this is that there is one SSNNL power plant located in the upstream in Madhya Pradesh,which generates 1,000 megawatts. It discharges water continuously,so there is no shortage. Tripathi said: We can maintain the water level at the SSNNL reservoir,so we are releasing water not only to Kutch but also to areas in Viramgam,Banaskantha,Fetehwadi command areas of Ahmedabad district,and Mahi command area in central Gujarat from the main canal,which is connected through several branch canals. M R Chaudhary,Executive Engineer,Canal Division,SSNNL,said: The aim is to provide enough water for agriculture. Therefore,we are also filling up water in several tanks in Gujarat. At present,the ratio in which SSNNL water is distributed,is 20 per cent for drinking,30 per cent for industries and the rest for irrigation. Recently,it was reported that shortage of water in Kutch the largest district of Gujarat has badly crippled its industrial and agriculture sectors. But according to Nimish Phadke,general secretary of the Federation of Kutch Industries Association (FOKIA),the increase in the discharge of water is not going to help industries in Kutch. Out of 200 Million Litres Daily (MLD) water supply,150 MLD is distributed for drinking and 50 MLD for industries. Therefore,even if SSNNL increases water discharge for a few days,the problem will not be solved. The problem can be solved only when water is released continuously, he added.
