Saurashtra to get Narmada water

Gandhinagar: The state government has decided to supply water for irrigation purpose in the summer months to areas of Saurashtra under the SAUNI scheme. The government said on Saturday that 25 reservoirs, 120 lakes and 400 check dams will be filled with 4,000 million cubic feet of water from the Narmada canal. This will also result in a rise of the groundwater level, the government said.

Ashwani Kumar, secretary to the CM, said, the reservoirs, lakes, and check dams in Saurashtra and Kutch region will be filled with an estimated 4,000 million cubic feet water from Narmada river during the summer, as an initiative of the irrigation department.

The process is being carried out in three phases. With the completion of Link-1 from Machhu-2 reservoir of Morbi to Und-1 reservoir of Jamnagar, the work of filling the lakes in Morbi and Rajkot districts started from May 21. In other areas of the Saurashtra-Kutch region, lakes, reservoirs, and check dams will be soon filled in phases through three other link canals under SAUNI Yojana. The first phase of the project is complete while phase 2 is nearing completion and phase 3 is in progress, the official said.

Kumar added that apart from ensuring an adequate supply of water for irrigation, this project will also solve the problem of potable water for the citizens and the cattle during the summer season.