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Journalism of Courage
GANDHINAGAR, May 21: Even as Narmada Development and Major Irrigation Schemes Minister Jaynarayan Vyas on Thursday maintained that there was no imminent drinking-water crisis in the state, his cabinet colleague Water Supply Minister Narottam Patel accused the Congress of trying to draw political mileage out of the situation.
Vyas said that there was enough water in the major dams of the state to last the summer. The water level in Dharoi dam, which supplies water to Ahmedabad city and north Gujarat areas, is 584 feet today against 576 feet last year, he said. Water-level in Dharoi dam should not go below 560 feet till July 15. In short, some 2,000 million cubic feet (MCF) water is available from the Dharoi dam.
In Saurashtra, too, dams have enough water, he said. The Bhadran dam, which supplies water to Rajkot city and Jetpur, has stock of 3,090 mcf against the required quantity of about 2,500 mcf. Similarly, Machhu-II dam, which supplies water to Morvi and 99 nearby villages, has a stock of 3,551 mcf, against the requirement of 594 mcf. Also, the Shetrunjay dam, which supplies water to Bhavnagar, Talaja, Palitana and Gariadhar, has a stock of 3,344 mcf, against the requirement of 2,500 mcf.
But as the Congress stepped up its pressure on the government on the drinking-water situation, Patel blamed the former for the situation. In a statement, issued here on Thursday, Patel said that the Congress government in the last decade had ignored long-term planning in the water-supply sector, leading to the present situation.
The Congress had no moral right to speak about water shortage at a time when the administration had been geared up to supply drinking-water to all villages.
Training his guns at the previous Rashtriya Janata Party (RJP) government, Patel said that the last government emptied the reservoirs of Saurashtra with the hope of getting votes, and now the people are bearing the brunt.
Giving details on the water-supply situation, Patel said that some 4,743 villages and 41 towns were facing shortage of drinking-water. He said about 274 tankers were used for supplying water to these areas and 74,591 hand-pumps are also used for giving water.
While 2,440 new hand-pumps are being set up in 1,619 villages, 125 teams have been pressed into service to repair hand-pumps which go out of order.
Besides, 357 group water-supply schemes have been asked to get ready to give water to some 3,240 villages. He said month-wise planning had been worked out for the Rs 56 crore master plan from April to July. Under this, work is under way to make 2,440 bore-wells of 100 mm, 445 bore-wells of 150 mm, deepening bore-wells in 211 villages, water supply through tanker to 1,802 villages, and deepening 96 village-wells.
Continuing his tirade against the Congress, Patel said that only 3 of the 47 water-supply projects worth Rs 171 crore undertaken by the former had been completed.
