Guj dams dry up, state govt claims no problem till July end

The Gujarat government on Monday said a majority of the dams in the state have either dried up or were having negligible water due to scanty rainfall last year, but added that the Sardar Sarovar Dam would provide drinking water till the end of July.

Gujarat Deputy Chief Minister Nitin Patel Monday 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.

"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," he said.

"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," Patel claimed.

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

"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," he said.

He said a meeting on Tuesday, chaired by Chief Minister Vijay Rupani, will review measures to tackle water scarcity in the state.

At present, the state government is supplying water in tankers in 258 villages and 263 hamlets through 1,583 daily trips, said Patel.

He informed that people can register their complaints about water related problems on toll-free number 1916.