Drought-hit states finally see some action from Govts

NEW DELHI, APRIL 20: With large parts of Rajasthan, Gujarat and Andhra Pradesh reeling under drought and acute water shortage, the three S...

NEW DELHI, APRIL 20: With large parts of Rajasthan, Gujarat and Andhra Pradesh reeling under drought and acute water shortage, the three State Governments have swung into action despatching water tankers to worst-hit areas.

The Gujarat Government has sent out water tankers and relief materials to seven worst-hit districts of Saurashtra. In Rajkot, the authorities are supplying 120 million gallons of drinking water for half an hour every alternate day as against its daily requirement of that volume.

In Rajkot city, people had no water supply for four to five days and those in villages suffered for a longer duration. One hundred tubewells have been drilled at Wackaner, 65km from Rajkot town, to help overcome the crisis.

The Rajasthan Government on its part has released Rs 6.10 crore to help overcome drinking water scarcity and famine and decided to tap alternate sources and transport water through tankers to remote areas, an official spokesman said in Jaipur.

The amount would be at the disposal of collectors who would use it as per local requirements without waiting for the State’s sanction from Jaipur, he said. Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot has directed all his ministers to personally visit drought-affected areas and sanction relief works on the spot as per local needs.

The Andhra Pradesh Government too has despatched water tankers to the areas in the State hit by water shortage. The twin cities of Hyderabad and Secunderabad are getting water only on alternate days as water levels in three main sources Osmansagar, Himayatsagar and Majira reservoir have come down considerably.

An official release issued here has brought some cheering news for Rajasthan, Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh by announcing that scattered rains may fall there in the next 48 hours under the impact of a western disturbance likely over North West India.

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More than 23,000 villages in 26 of the 32 districts of Rajasthan, seven districts of Saurashtra region of Gujarat and parts of Andhra are facing severe drought, famine and water scarcity following the failure of monsoon.

With the advent of another summer, water supply has been seriously hit in almost all parts of Rajasthan and Saurashtra as natural sources, including dams, lakes and reservoirs, have dried up.

The drought-hit districts of Saurashtra are Jamnagar, Bhavnagar, Junagadh, Rajkot, Surendranagar, Porbander and Amreli. Three persons were killed at Falla, near Jamnagar, recently, when police fired on farmers who were protesting diversion of water from a local dam to a town.