Water-starved villagers eye city life in desperation

Tankara Taluka of Morbi district has much to repent on a lost opportunity. In monsoon 2017, Tankara received an enviable three times more rainfall than the normal average of 527 mm. But come monsoon 2018, Tankara sunk into the despair with 44 per cent deficit and all the nearby reservoirs running dead dry. “The previous year, it rained aplenty . Last year, there was nothing, literally . Within a year our joy turned into sorrow,” Jentilal Kasundra, a farmer in Mota Khijadiya village of Tankara Taluka said .

Mota Khijadiya, wears a deserted look on this summer afternoon. Most villagers are farmers. An elderly man Jentilal said:“Without water, there is no livelihood. All youth have migrated to cities for labour work. Many of us are selling off out farms too. Agriculture is non-remunerative for us. It feels like we are paying for being a farmer.”

When asked about the first instalment of ₹2,000 received under the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Yojana (PM Kisan), he says, “We don’t need money. Please give us water instead.” This is a cry coming almost from each corner of Saurashtra. The story is no different in other villages as the water management has failed completely, agricultural pricing mechanism have turned unfavourable for growers, causing extreme distress.

The entire Saurashtra region had received excess rainfall in Monsoon of 2017. The region received 17 per cent more rains than its average normal of 659 mm. But the mismanagement and lack of preparedness on the part of administration for water conservation are believed to have led to a severe water shortage situation following 28 per cent deficient monsoon in 2018.

“The action plan for drought preparedness was put in place in October 2018, when monsoon withdrawal was declared. But by then most of the water from previous year's rainfall had gone into drain due to inadequate conservation capacities. Most of the check dams were blocked, village ponds and reservoirs have reduced storage capacity due to silting. We missed an opportunity in conservation of water,” a senior official at Rajkot district collectorate told BusinessLine .

However, the State government, after realising that the opportunity is lost, rushed to de-silt the reservoirs across the State. In May last year, the Chief Minister Vijay Rupani led the campaign under the mission, ‘Sujalam Sufalam Jal Sanchay Abhiyan’ aiming to conserve additional 1,100 million cubic fet of rain water. The government planned to increase the storage capacity of the existing reservoirs by de-silting of check-dams and deepening the ponds, lakes and riverbeds besides cleaning the rivers to accommodate more rainwater storage. The aim was to cover 13,000 such reservoirs to increase their capacity to store rainwater. Commissioned under PPP mode, the Project was expected to revitalise about 32 rivers having length of about 340 kilometers across 30 districts. Also, cleaning drive will be undertaken for canals of 5,400 kilometers.

These measures were seen as a precautionary measures to fill more water. But with insufficient rains last year, the effort didn’t yield its desired results. “This is not a futile exercise. Last year, we didn’t get sufficient rains. But the reservoir capacities have already been increased with this effort. So, this year, with good rains we will be in a position to store more water as expected,” Rupani had said after a failed monsoon in 2018.

Even before it rains in the next two months, as projected by the Meteorological Department, there is a herculean task for the State government to meet the drinking water requirements in these regions. The biggest city in Saurashtra, Rajkot, had already started feeling the pinch of the water shortageas water supplies have been curtailed in the non-municipal corporation areas. “The municipal corporation area will get water supply 20 minutes in a day. We have ensured sufficient water supply till July 31,” said the Chief Minister, who is representing Rajkot constituency in State Assembly.

As it is the extreme case , the State government has pressed extreme measures to tide over the water shortage situation. For 258 villages of 62 talukas in the State, as many as 361 water tankers are making daily 1,581 ferries to provide water. But these measures fell short when it came to the remote locations in distant villages. Districts of Porbandar in Saurashtra to Arvalli in North Gujarat have gone dry . In Kutiyana taluka of Porbandar district, “Beda Yudh” (water pot wars) were common sight as the water supply dropped to once in eight days and most villagers had to depend on tanker waters.

The water supply from the Narmada dam had to be increased to supply to more people in the State. As per government data, the State gets about 3,750 million liters of water daily for drinking purpose, which is about 500 million litres more than last year. Narmada is a major water source for the State, with about 8,911 villages, 165 towns and 6 municipal corporations depending on it.

With frequency and intensity of water shortage increasing, young villagers and farmers have started showing disinterest in farming or rural life. “I am forced to stay back in village because I have about 50 acres of land and there is no one to look after it. I too aspire for a better life as city people get. Given a chance, I’ll also quit farming and do some business in city,” said Hitesh Chhatrola, a 32-year-old from Tankara.

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