The Gujarat government has declared 527 villages in Saurashtra region as partially scarcity hit due to deficient rainfall last year. The villages are located in three districts: Rajkot, Jamnagar and Dwarka.
“In these villages, drinking water will be provided through tankers while subsidised cattle fodder will be made available to the farmers and cattle breeders. The government will also initiate drought relief works,” said senior Minister Bhupendrasinh Chudasama, who is heading a ministerial committee on assessing the drought situation in the State.
Sources in the government said in the next review meeting, more villages in other districts are likely to be declared partially scarcity hit. The last two monsoons were below normal, causing a huge distress on the farm community and also creating drinking water shortage, as major dams and reservoirs are nearly empty.
“Except Narmada dam, all other dams and reservoirs, which supply water in the State, have only 30 per cent water storage while in Saurashtra region, most of the dams and water bodies are almost empty,” a senior official said, adding, “the authorities will be dependent on Narmada dam to supply water in Saurashtra and Kutch.”
In several towns and hundreds of villages in Saurashtra comprising almost a dozen districts, drinking water is supplied only once a week.
“Water situation is very bad and going to worsen in next months because the government has not been able to connect far flung areas with Narmada pipeline network,” said Congress legislator Raghavji Patel from Jamnagar (rural) constituency.
