Modern day Bhagiraths!
First
andNarmada drenches parched Rajasthan, courtesy Modi
RK Misra | Tharad (Banaskantha)
As a remorseless summer sun beat down on a virtual sea of humanity milling in this border town, Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday symbolically sent the Narmada waters surging through a specially constructed main canal to quench the thirst of desert-lined Rajasthan after an epic 458 km-long journey through ten districts of Gujarat. "We are doing no favour to our neighbours, just repaying a centuries old debt of honour," said the Chief Minister.
Unprecedented crowds surging from all over north Gujarat to this venue -- as much to catch a glimpse of Modi as to watch the water flowing in a perennially rain-starved region -- sent the official arrangements for a fairly large gathering crashing, as the largest lined irrigation canal in the world emanating from the Sardar Sarovar dam in south Gujarat sliced through the heartland to carry water past it's northern borders into Rajasthan.
A boon for the languishing border districts of the neighbouring State, the Narmada main canal is an engineering feat of sorts as it traverses 612 concrete structures, including those built to negotiate rivers like the Mahi, Sabarmati, Rupen, Khari, Saraswati and Banas littering it's path. Built at a cost of Rs 4,800 crore, it has piled 2,038 lakh cubic metres of earthwork, 403lakh sqm of concrete lining and 34 lakh cubic metres of concrete and has a carrying capacity of 20,621 cubic ft per second as it enters north Gujarat but tapers to 3,354 cubic ft.per second when it touches the outer brim of Rajasthan." The resources used to build this Narmada main canal would be equivalent to constructing a four lane 11,000 km-long road -- from here to Kashmir three times over, said Modi trying to explain the seriousness of the exercise in layman's terms. The commissioning of the canal will provide irrigation facility to 5.51 lakh hectares in the three north Gujarat districts of Mehsana, Patan and Banaskantha and is expected to change the entire complexion of this dry, tropical region through extensive greening," he added.
The Chief Minister was candid when he said that the fruition of the Narmada project was the result of the work of successive Governments and Chief Ministers of the State but pointed out that it was his Government, which had speeded it up to achieve record results. "Beginning in 1960-61, when the then Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru laid the foundation stone, a sum of Rs 14,000 crore was spent on the project over 40 years and Rs 11,000 crore in just the last five years alone," he said.
Modi expressed happiness that Gujarat, which had gained the benefit of the monsoon fed rivers emanating from Rajasthan flowing into Gujarat for centuries was now in a position to repay a debt of honour. "It is with a deep sense of gratitude that we happily send the Narmada waters across to our neighbours with a sense of solidarity, bonhomie and élan," he added.
Modi also announced that Gujarat was set to play a pioneering role by introducing participatory irrigation and water management. "I intend to remove the Government from this duty. The people should manage their own water resources through water cooperatives in the State," he added.Like a master patiently explaining to a class of eager and attentive students, Modi said that the water belonged to them and would be best managed by them. "You have to understand that this is the most precious resource and we need to conserve every drop of it, using it very judiciously. It is not just a mere coincidence that ever since the State came alive to water conservation, agriculture production has gone up from Rs 9,000 crore to Rs 35,000 crore in the last three years. Milk yield itself is up by 20 per cent, thanks largely to the green fodder that is available in abundance. With water now flowing into north Gujarat, milk yield will also go up considerably leading to greater economic growth," he added.
Very good news. Hope Bihar can return to Vihara.It's deluge of happiness in desert
Lokpal Sethi | Jaipur
Virtually waiting for almost half-a-century, after hundreds of litigations, controversies, debates and agitations, Rajasthan on Thursday received about 300 cusecs of water from the Sardar Sarovar dam in Gujarat.
A beaming Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje -- who had promised before coming to power in 2003 that she would definitely bring Narmada water to the State -- at an impressive function at Lalpura in Jalore district released the water from Seelu canal to the main canal, which would take it to its tributaries in Jalore and Barmer districts.
As Rajasthan is entitled to get a total of 500 cusecs of water from Gujarat, she hopes that the State would soon get the remaining 200 cusecs.
Earlier, Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi opened the canal, which brings water from the Sardar Sarover dam to Rajasthan, at a function at Tharad in Banaskatha.
About 50 cusecs of water was released in the canal on experiment basis in the first week of this month, which reached Seelu on March 20. This was to check the flow of the water in newly constructed canal.
Initially, Rajasthan was to get its share of water about two years ago, but due to delay in completion of canal in Gujarat, the deadline could not be met. At that time, Raje constituted a committee of senior officials from the Irrigation department to get in touch with their counterparts in Gujarat to ensure the early completion of the canal. She herself was monitoring the progress. The entire project was ready a few months ago, but owing to election in Gujarat, formal release in the canal was postponed.
To decide on the share of water among Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Gujarat and Rajasthan, a Narmada Water Dispute Authority was constituted. It fixed the share of Rajasthan at 0.5 MAF. At that time, a scheme, costing Rs 1,975 crore, was planned to bring water to Rajasthan. Under the scheme, a 458-km-long canal was to be constructed in Gujarat portion to bring water to Rajasthan. The responsibility to construct canal was given to Gujarat and for this Rajasthan Government paid an amount of Rs 647 crore to Gujarat to carry out the work.
As part of the scheme, Rajasthan was to build a main canal and its tributary network to utilise the water for irrigation and drinking purposes. Though work of most of the tributaries is complete, the entire project will be completed by next year.
According to experts, if Indira Gandhi Canal has brought water to irrigate over 10 lakh hectares of land in western Rajasthan, this project would change the life in two southern district of the State.
Apart from construction of a 74-km-long canal, the State Government has constructed 932 km of tributary network, which would provide irrigation facilities in 2.46 lakh hectares of land in 233 villages in Jalore and Barmer districts. A total of 1,336 villages in these two perennially water scarce districts would first time get the drinking water.
The availably of water, just before the summer season, has brought smile on the faces of lakhs of people in rural areas of these two districts, where women used to walk miles to fetch drinking water.