Our Bureau Rainfall deficit in Gujarat has reached 64 per cent as on August 10, putting kharif cultivation in the State at stake.

The State government, however, has announced release of water from the dams and reservoirs that will benefit about 5 lakh hectares of the farm area and save the farmers from the crop damage due to shortage of water.

So far, the State has received 305 mm rainfall, which is 63.69 per cent departure from the long-period average of 840 mm.

According to the State irrigation department, the largest irrigation scheme of the State — Sardar Sarovar dam on Narmada river — has 4,408 million cubic meters (MCM) of water or 46.6 per cent filling against its storage capacity. The overall storage in the 206 of the State reservoirs and dams stands at 7,592 MCM as on August 11.

A senior agriculture department official said that the kharif crops were under the risk of damage due to delay in the second spell of the rains. “Due to delay in the monsoon, we would need to release the water for the kharif crops. We have sufficient water available in the dams to cover the requirements of agriculture and drinking purpose. There are total nine dams with over 90 per cent storage at present. The overall storage across the dams is about 46 per cent. We can manage with that before the rains arrive,” the official said.

Chief Minister Vijay Rupani on Tuesday asked the State irrigation department to release water for the kharif agricultural crops till September 30, 2021. He also asked the department to ensure adequate reserve water for the drinking purpose.

Gujarat has seen total kharif sowing on 75.73 lakh ha — marginally higher than 74.92 lakh ha in the last year. Groundnut and cotton are the biggest kharif crops in the State.

The rainfall deficit in the South Gujarat region is about 60 per cent, while that in Saurasthra and Central Gujarat is about 65-66 per cent and the highest in Kutch and North Gujarat at nearly 70 per cent.

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