Plan to meet water crisis in Saurashtra

GANDHINAGAR, April 19: The government has prepared a Rs 37-crore action plan to meet drinking water shortage in over 4,000 villages during this summer season, mainly in the Saurashtra region.

In an informal chat with newspersons here on Monday, Water Supply Minister Narottam Patel said his department had, for the first time, decided to provide 80 per cent grant to those municipalities which spend on providing drinking water through tankers. quot;We have decided to purchase about 30 new tankers this time,quot; he said.

Besides over 4,000 villages, as many as 37 municipalities, including 32 from Saurashtra alone, will be covered under the Rs 37-crore action plan, the Minister said, adding that Bhavnagar, Rajkot and Jamnagar districts are the worst affected, with 745, 579 and 528 villages there expected to experience water shortage.