'Narmada canals' irrigation potential is 16.11 lakh hectares'

The Gujarat government alleged Wednesday that the Congress quoted the data on the Narmada canal network, provided in the Socio-Economic Review of 2018-19, partially, and misled the Assembly.

The network now brings water to 16.11 lakh hectares of farm land, it maintained.

Leader of Opposition Paresh Dhanani, on the other hand, claimed that the state lost Rs 12 lakh crore in the form of "unrealized agricultural output" because the BJP government failed to complete the canal network in time.

On July 15, Deputy Chief Minister Nitin Patel had sought an apology from Dhanani for citing 'incorrect' information about the irrigation potential of Narmada canals.

On July 12, Dhanani had alleged that against the state government's claim of over 16 lakh hectares of land getting irrigated by the Narmada canal network, only six lakh hectares had been covered till now.

The Socio-Economic Review of 2018-19, released on July 2 when the Budget was presented, mentioned only six lakh hectares, he said.

Patel had refuted the claim, stating that the review mentioned irrigation potential of over 16.11 lakh hectares.

Assembly Speaker Rajedndra Trivedi had then given Dhanani two days to furnish proof to back his claim.

Dhanani said Wednesday that a table in the review report clearly says that though the irrigation potential was created for 16 lakh hectares, only six lakh hectares were being irrigated by the canals at present.

"Due to this failure of the government to complete the canal network in time, Gujarat has lost Rs 12 lakh crore in the last 12 years in the form of unrealized agricultural output," he alleged.

Nitin Patel countered him, saying the Congress leader cited only a part of the relevant table.

"The table says that irrigation potential has been created for 16.11 lakh hectares by June 2018. After that line, it is written that maximum utilization was 6.73 lakh hectares. Dhanani mentioned only this line and skipped the previous one," said Patel.

"This data shows that the government has created irrigation potential for 16.11 lakh hectares by finishing the canal network in time. Irrigation potential and utilization is different. Farmers may not utilize the water from the canals if monsoon is good," said the deputy CM.

"This shows that the Congress was trying to mislead the House," he added.

To end the heated debate, the Speaker ruled that both the sides were right from their own point of view.