Guj govt not serious about resolving state's water woes: Cong

Lashing out at the BJP-led Gujarat government over the water crisis in parts of the state, Congress today alleged that the government has failed to complete major water supply projects despite spending crores of rupees on them so far.
Senior Congress leader Shankersinh Vaghela today claimed that even after spending Rs 2,260 crore on the ambitious scheme called Saurashtra Narmada Avataran Irrigation (Sauni) Yojna in the last three years, no progress has been made yet.
The Sauni Yojna was launched by former Chief Minister Narendra Modi in 2012 to fill up 87 dams of Saurashtra region with Narmada water.
"In October 2012, the government announced Sauni Yojna under which 87 dams were supposed to be filled with one million acre feet of Narmada water. So far, Rs 2,260 crore have been spent, but nothing has been done on ground. A detailed project report (DPR) is yet to be prepared," Vaghela claimed.

He then cited another scheme called 'Sujalam Sufalam', launched prior to the Sauni Yojna by Gujarat government.
According to Vaghela, who is the Leader of Opposition in Gujarat Assembly, objectives of both schemes are contradictory to each other.

"Under the Sujalam Sufalam scheme, the government had announced that 107 small check dams on rivers in Saurashtra region would be filled up by one million acre feet of Narmada water. In such case, how will you fill up 87 dams with that water? Government owes an explanation in this regard," Vaghela said.
The Congress leader also questioned the competency of the consulting agency hired by the Gujarat government to prepare the pre-feasibility report about Sauni Yojna.

"This is the same consultant which has prepared DPR of Rs 66,000 crore PCPIR (Petroleum, Chemicals and Petrochemicals Investment Region) project at Dahej. This project is yet to make any significant progress. Based on the report, Narmada canal project in that region was stalled," he alleged.
"PCPIR was supposed to be completed in 2015. But, even the first phase is still under progress. Thus, neither PCPIR is completed nor the farmers of that region received water from Narmada" Vaghela said.
"Now, the same agency is preparing report for Sauni Yojna. This shows how serious government is about resolving the water crisis. It is a matter of shame that hundreds of villages in the state are still dependent of water supplied through tankers despite such announcements by government," he added.