Roat opposes Mahi water diversion plan, seeks priority for tribal districts
Jaipur: Bharat Adivasi Party (BAP) MP Rajkumar Roat has urged the Rajasthan govt to prioritise drinking water and irrigation needs of tribal districts in southern Rajasthan before diverting surplus water from the Mahi Basin to other parts of the state.
In a letter to Chief Minister Bhajan Lal Sharma and water resources minister Suresh Singh Rawat Tuesday, Roat objected to the state’s proposed plan to channel surplus monsoon water from the Mahi River through a feeder canal to the Som-Kamla-Amba project and eventually to Jalore and other arid districts.
The proposal was announced in the 2026-27 state budget, which earmarked Rs 5,900 crore for transferring excess monsoon flows from the Mahi River system.
Roat argued that Banswara, Dungarpur, and Pratapgarh, which form Rajasthan’s tribal belt, are heavily dependent on rain-fed water sources and continue to face recurring water shortages despite being located in a river-rich region.
“First quench the thirst of these regions before planning to send water elsewhere,” Roat said, alleging that diverting water from the region would be unfair to local tribal communities.
He claimed that a significant portion of water from rivers in southern Rajasthan already flows into Gujarat and that local farmers and residents continue to face water scarcity due to inadequate storage and irrigation infrastructure.
In a letter to Chief Minister Bhajan Lal Sharma and water resources minister Suresh Singh Rawat Tuesday, Roat objected to the state’s proposed plan to channel surplus monsoon water from the Mahi River through a feeder canal to the Som-Kamla-Amba project and eventually to Jalore and other arid districts.
The proposal was announced in the 2026-27 state budget, which earmarked Rs 5,900 crore for transferring excess monsoon flows from the Mahi River system.
Roat argued that Banswara, Dungarpur, and Pratapgarh, which form Rajasthan’s tribal belt, are heavily dependent on rain-fed water sources and continue to face recurring water shortages despite being located in a river-rich region.
“First quench the thirst of these regions before planning to send water elsewhere,” Roat said, alleging that diverting water from the region would be unfair to local tribal communities.
He claimed that a significant portion of water from rivers in southern Rajasthan already flows into Gujarat and that local farmers and residents continue to face water scarcity due to inadequate storage and irrigation infrastructure.
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