River interlinking makes Ugamedi village drought-proof

RAJKOT: Thousands of people from 10 villages around Ugamedi village in Bhavnagar district were all smiles on Tuesday. The once parched Sonal river was flowing bank to bank. After almost two years of hard work, the project to link two rivers - Keri and Sonal - taken up by Surat-based diamond baron Lalji Patel, finally yielded desired results. Following heavy rains in the catchment area of Keri river, water flowed into Sonal through a special 2.5-km-long pipeline constructed by the villagers.
Villagers performed the traditional Jal Pooja and welcomed the water into Sonal river. The river interlinking project is a gift from Patel, owner of Surat-based Dharmanandan Diamonds, to his native village Ugamedi. Lalji almost single-handedly took up the project ? which has cost him about Rs 10 crore.
"My dream has come true at last. Farmers of 10 villages will be benefited as the overflowing water from Keri river is now flowing into Sonal. This will help irrigate nearly 1 lakh bigha land and farmers can harvest two crops a year even if there are no rains," Patel told TOI. Keri river is 183-km-long and its water used to flow away into the sea earlier. Patel got Sonal river deepened and widened to increase its water carrying capacity. In the past two years, villagers have constructed three check dams on Sonal. This resulted in underground water levels going up. "There was a time when Ugamedi villagers used to quarrel over a bucket of water. But water is available at just 30-feet depth," he said. Vinod Patel, sarpanch of Ugamedi said, "Our village has become drought-proof now. Until recently, our village was rain-deficient but river interlinking solved our irrigation water problem."