Acute Water Crisis Strikes Gujarat Yet Again, Third Year in a Row

The Sardar Sarovar Dam is considered as the lifeline of Gujarat

(Photo Courtesy: YouTube)

Gujarat is staring at an acute water crisis for the third successive year now. On Monday, 29 April, the Gujarat government declared that a majority of the dams in the state have either dried up or had negligible water due to scanty rainfall last year.

The state has drinking water reserves of 38,000 Million Cubic Meters (MCM) of which 71 percent of drinking water is available in Central and South Gujarat, according to a document released by the Water Supply Department of the Government of Gujarat.

Saurashtra comes second with 17 percent drinking water, followed by North Gujarat with 10 percent and finally Kutch which has a measly 2 percent fresh drinking water available

However, the government added that the Sardar Sarovar Dam would provide drinking water till the end of July.

Govt Assures Water till July End

Deputy Chief Minister of Gujarat Nitin Patel said the water level in the Sardar Sarovar Dam was 119.5 metres at present.

"Due to scanty rainfall last year, water storage is negligible in almost all the dams at present. However, enough water is available in Sardar Sarovar Dam to provide drinking water to the people of Gujarat," Patel told reporters in Gandhinagar.

Patel said around 375 crore litres of drinking water is being supplied to the people every day through the Narmada canal network.

“Around 4 crore people in Gujarat are being given water through the Narmada canal network and there is no need to worry till July end. At present, we are supplying water from the Narmada project to 8,911 villages, 165 towns and six cities,”

Nitin Patel, Deputy Chief Minister of Gujarat

"The live storage in Narmada dam is 0.93 million acre feet. We are yet to receive an additional 0.35 million acre feet from Madhya Pradesh. Thus, there won't be any problem of drinking water till July end," he said.

Water Levels Receded in Last Six Months

Regions	Capacity (MCM)	Water Available (MCM) on 3/10/2018	% of water stored on 03/10/2018	% of water stored on 26/04/2019
Kutch	332.27	43.71	13.15%	13.04%
North Gujarat	1922.26	752.98	39.17%	16.24%
Central Gujarat	2347.37	2162.03	92.10%	46.43%
Saurashtra	2533.49	1065.41	42.05%	10.59%
South Gujarat	8624.78	4626.87	53.65%	22.44%
Total	15760.16	8651	54.89%	23.15%
Sardar Sarovar	9500	6392.57	67.57%	50.89%
MCM-Million Cubic Meters

As per the data provided by the Water Supply Department, water levels across Gujarat have fallen significantly over the last six months since October 2018. The state’s over all water levels dropped to 23.15 percent in April 2019 from 54.89 percent in October 2018.

At present, the state government is supplying water in tankers in 258 villages and 263 hamlets through 1,583 daily trips, said Patel. However in Kutch, six local dams have completely run dry, Patel added.

“We used to supply 27 crore litres of water every day to Kutch district. Now, we will supply 32 crore litres every day through the Narmada canals. We have also planned to lay new pipelines for Porbandar and Patan districts.”

Nitin Patel, Deputy Chief Minister of Gujarat

Patel said a meeting on Tuesday, 30 April, chaired by Chief Minister Vijay Rupani, will review measures to tackle water scarcity in the state. He informed that people can register their complaints about water related problems on the toll-free number 1916.

(With inputs from PTI)