Low water storage in dams a concern, says Gujarat deputy CM Nitin Patel

Low water storage in dams in Gujarat has increased the worries of the state government, said Nitin Patel, deputy chief minister of Gujarat. The government is hoping for rainfall this week. Or else, the situation will only worsen further. However, the weather department has not predicted state-wide rainfall this week.

“Rains were delayed in Gujarat. The first spell of rains in south Gujarat and Saurashtra was conducive for sowing. However, rains are still inadequate in north Gujarat and Kutch. Storage of water in dams is also not up to our expectations. If it does not rain now, then the situation will be tough,” said Nitin Patel.

Currently, all the 204 dams in Gujarat have 3,37,352 million cubic feet (mcf) of water, which is just 37.88 per cent of total storage capacity of 8,90,650 mcf.

Patel also said that the state’s main dam, Sardar Sarovar Dam, has received lower inflow of water as rainfall in the catchment areas has been insufficient. He admitted that the government has been caught on the wrong foot while releasing dam water for irrigation in the ongoing Kharif season.

“While we were releasing water for irrigation, we felt that the combination of rainwater and dam water would be conducive for sowing. We estimated that rains would continue in Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat, which did not happen. Rains are scarce in MP as well. Indirasagar and other dams in MP also are facing the same problem,” said Patel.

He said that all hopes are now on rains for the remaining Monsoon season. “The weather department has predicted rains Monday onwards. We hope that Gujarat receives widespread rains. If it does not rain now, then the situation will be tough,” said Patel.

The state has not received widespread rains in the past 10 days. The state recorded 449.55 mm rains (54.15 per cent of average) on July 26. This has almost stagnated to 453.80 mm (54.61 per cent of average).

Large gap between two spells would mean that farms would soon lose moisture, and in many parts, farmers will have to rely on water from dams or from borewells.

According to India Meteorological Department (IMD), rains are deficient by about 16 per cent in Gujarat. Even IMD has not predicted widespread rains this week. It said that parts of south Gujarat are likely to get light or moderate rains, but only isolated places in the rest of the state are likely to get rains.

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