Nature8217;s fury

Relief must reach them in adequate measure and promptly. At present Gujarat presents the most formidable problem with 16 districts in Saurashtra, Kutch and North Gujarat either bone dry already or rapidly becoming so. In addition, 69 town and three large cities, among them Rajkot, are located in the drought zone. Never in living memory has there been so little water in Gujarat.

The crisis is due to the fact that water in major and minor dam systems is down to a trickle. That, in turn, is the result of poor rainfall in catchment areas during the last monsoon. The consequent acute water shortage could have been predicted and with forethought on the part of the government in Gandhinagar and local government bodies, alternative water supplies could have been provided for in good time. That was not to be. Crisis measures have now been adopted to cope with the worst water shortage in a century.

Luckily, there appears to be subsoil water to tap for the time being in the bulk of parched villages and an extensive programme has begun of digging borewells and deepening wells. How long this source of water can be exploited is uncertain. For the 2000 or more villages where even groundwater is nonexistent, water tankers are the only lifeline.

Given that the water crisis will continue for several months, it is necessary to quickly assess groundwater availability, aquifers and other resources, and then manage them prudently. No doubt the government will be looking at the possibility of piping water from long distances especially for the many towns and cities in the region. Using limited quantities of water carefully will be as important in tiding over the crisis as finding additional supplies of water.

Many towns have to make do with water supplied once every two or three and in some instances four days. As hard as this is, it also imposes a useful water conserving discipline on households. Big users such as industry and municipalities will also need to conserve water, recycle it and find substitutes where possible.

Left to fend for themselves, cattle are migrating in search of food and water and many linger between life and death in cattle-pens. All this suffering is unnecessary. Damage to the rural economy and groundnut growing areas is bound to be considerable and the government should be prepared to provide rural relief and employment on a large scale. The Narmada dam and Sardar Sarovar project were supposed to end the tragic cycle of drought by bringing plentiful supplies of water to this thirsty region. But that is a distant dream. Hope continues to reside as before in the old water tanker.