Narmada water for drought-hit areas in Gujarat

By Our Special Correspondent

GANDHINAGAR, MAY 17. As a symbolic measure to highlight the importance of the Narmada dam water to quench the thirst of the arid Kutch-Saurashtra region, the Gujarat government has decided to send tanker trains of the Narmada waters to the drought-hit areas in the state from May 23.

Announcing this here on Wednesday after a meeting of the State Cabinet which took stock of the drought situation and the steps being taken by the government, the Chief Minister, Mr. Keshubhai Patel, said the 70- tanker train carrying 14 lakh litres of the Narmada waters would be run once in every three days from Broach, where the tankers would be filled at the Gujarat Narmada Valley Fertilizers Company siding, to Hapa distributing water on way to Surendranagar, Rajkot and Jamnagar districts.

This would be in addition to the six tanker trains being operated daily from Khodiyar on the outskirts of Ahmedabad to various parts of the Saurashtra regions and two a day from Rajula in Amreli district to Junagadh and some other parts of the region.

Mr. Patel agreed that once-in-three-days train would not be able to meet the requirement of the targetted region but it would be a symbolic gesture to inform the world how important the Narmada dam project was for Gujarat.

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