NEW DELHI: With the water level of the
Narmada dam dipping to a record level, Gujarat is already facing a severe water crisis, just three months into 2018.
Responding to a question by Congress MLA Lakha Bharwad of Viramgram, the state government informed the house that in the year 2016, 52,181 million cubic metres (MCM ) of water was stored in the
Narmada dam, while in the year 2017 63,172 MCM of water was stored.
However, in January 2018, water storage in the dam stood at 3,916 MCM, almost one-third of its total holding capacity of 9,460 MCM, a fall of 763 MCM since December last.
The Congress MLA had sought information on the water levels for each month of the last two years.
Deputy Gujarat CM Nitin Patel, who is minister of the Narmada scheme, answered the Cong MLA's question by citing figures provided by the department. He was unable to answer why despite having a higher stock of water compared with 2016, how the water level had dipped suddenly.
Interestingly, after getting permission from the Centre to close the dam gates, the capacity of the dam had increased by nine metres.
Earlier this year, on January 22, the state government announced that water in the Narmada dam reached its lowest level in the last 13 years. The government urged farmers to rethink their summer crop if they were dependent on water from the Narmada. SRP jawans were also deployed in various parts of the state to stop farmers from taking water illegally from Narmada’s canals.
Gujarat is heavily dependent on water from the Narmada dam. Most cities and districts in the state get their drinking water from the river.
Seeking to assuage concerns, the government made it clear there is enough stock to provide drinking water.
Further, to deal with the low water level, the government said it had started to pump dead water stock after getting the Centre's nod for the same. This is the first time the government is pumping dead water stock from the Narmada dam.
The opposition, meanwhile, is up in arms and blaming mismanagement by the government for the current water crisis. According to the opposition’s claims, the government wasted Narmada water during election time in the SAUNI yojana and the Sabarmati riverfront.
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