Gujarat's dams set to run out of water by first week of May

AHMEDABAD: By rough estimates, most of the state's 202 dams, barring the Narmada, are set to run out of water by the first week of May. With 468 villages being added to those declared water scarcity-hit on Tuesday, the number of such villages is already 994, and it may well cross 2,500 by mid-May. A meeting of senior state ministers scheduled to discuss the situation on Thursday may declare more villages as water scarcity-hit, taking the current number of villages critically affected by lack of water, much beyond 1,000, already.
Leaving out Narmada, the rest of the 202 dams in the state held only 4,153 MCM of water, or just 25% of their capacity on April 15. The daily demand for water on these dams is 290 MCM, and if things don't change, they are expected to run out of usable water within 15 days. Water resources minister, Vijay Rupani, said that 994 villages have been declared water scarcity-hit or semi-scarcity hit until now, and the number is likely to cross 15% of the 18,000 villages in the state as water bodies continue to dry up in rising summer heat.

The state government, however, still doesn't view the situation as alarming, banking largely on the Narmada, and other measures. Bhupendrasinh Chudasama, chairman of the committee of senior ministers, said, "We are comfortably placed and will not require water trains like in Maharashtra. We have adequate sources, and we are tapping all to ensure that people get enough water."

Narmada dam reservoir may withstand the pressure longer as currently it holds 4,188 MCM of water which is 79% of its full capacity of 5,265 MCM. The state draws 55 MCM daily from the dam, which quantum may increase with rising water scarcity.

Rupani, however, said with concern, that the conventional criteria for declaring a region hit by water scarcity don't fit the current circumstances. "Areas like Amreli, Banaskantha and Kutch have received adequate rainfall, and hence scarcity cannot be declared going by the figures. But at the same time, these three districts have a high number of villages, and the rains were only for a short duration leaving little or no water in the dams," said Rupani, adding, "We have asked the respective collectors to send their recommendations about the situation."

Elaborating on the game plan in place, Rupani said that out of 17,843 villages in the state 8,049 villages are connected with the Narmada Canal, and another 3,635 are connected to other sources of water. In all, claimed the minister, 11,865 villages are connected with such group projects. Speaking on requirements for livestock, Rupani said, "We have over 3.5 crore kg of grass in stock and have the capacity to prepare 1 crore kg of cattle feed."