 "Gujarat govt braces up to tackle ensuing water crisis")
Two months since the monsoons have officially set in Gujarat, the rainfall deficit (as per the Indian Meteorological Department) is about 22%. Add to this, the past two consecutive years of insufficient rains, lowering the ground water levels. Of the 203 dams in the state, around 136 have less than 50% water available for drinking purpose, and of this, 60 dams are only 10% full.
As Gujarat inches towards a water crisis, the state administration as well as the beleaguered farmers are pinning their hopes on the skies to bail them out of an impending crisis.
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The state government, on its part, said that as far as the kharif crops are concerned there is no issue of water availability. Jasha Barad, minister of state, water supply of Gujarat says: "For kharif crops there is no issue of water availability across Gujarat. In present condition, if monsoons will not be good, we will release water for agriculture from Sardar Sarovar Narmada dam in winter and summer as per the requirement."
Sardar Sarovar Narmada project is indeed the water lifeline of Gujarat and about 9 million cubic feet of water was allotted for Gujarat, however, the command area does not cover many parts of the state.When the project begun, focus was given to provide water to areas which received scanty rainfall and the ground water level had fallen. Social activist Sagar Rabari, also convenor of Jamin Adhikar Andolan Gujarat that works actively with farmers alleged that out of its objective of irrigating 18,45,000 hectares (which later reduced to 17,92,000 ha), the Sardar Sarovar Narmada Nigam Ltd (SSNNL) has till March 2015 covered 3,70,490 Hectares (Ha).
Despite Barad's claims, farmers from Saurashtra region (which has not received much rainfall this season) claim that things are not very good on ground. Ramesh Bhoraniya, farmer from Naranka village near Rajkot said: "Condition is not good for kharif crops and farmers are trying to save their crops using available ground water with them. If rains don't come in next one week or 10 days, situation will be critical mainly for cotton and groundnut."
Crop failures in Gujarat could have ramifications for the entire economy.The state accounts for roughly 11% of India's bajra production, 9% of tur, 39% of groundnut and 29% of cotton production.
As such, Gujarat's foodgrain production has been on the decline in the past few years, when the state didn't receive sufficient rains. As per the latest Socio-Economic Review of Gujarat, production of foodgrains during 2015-16 is estimated at 61.92 lakh tonnes compared to 77.95 lakh tonnes in 2014-15, a drop of 20.5%. The fall is even sharper when compared to the 2013-14 figures, when the production was around 93.82 lakh tonnes.
Experts like Y K Alagh, economist and former union minister for planning, programme implementation, statistics and power pointed out that adverse impact on agricultural output had significant snowballing effects on the social and economic structure."For example, if the ground moisture is low, farmers would switch crops; from paddy or cotton to lets say pulses. While this may be good for prices of pulses, it will have implications for the other commodities," Alagh said.
M G Dhandhalya, associate research scientist of agricultural economics at Junagadh Agriculture University (JAU) said that the state is requires good rains otherwise sowing in rabi season may decrease due to water shortage.
He added: "Less sowing means lower income, and lesser purchasing power for farmers, and, in turn, impacting social events like marriages etc. Besides lower consumption, loan defaults too will rise."
As it is, rural Gujarat bore the brunt of double-digit consumer price index (CPI)-based in July. As per data from the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (Mospi), the CPI-based inflation in rural Gujarat was at 10.14% in July, compared with 8.91% in the previous month.
The state's newly elected chief minister seems to be well aware of the problem at hand. He told media persons on Thursday that with the aim to provide sufficient irrigation water to farmers of Saurashtra region, Modi as Gujarat chief minister had launched this ambitious project in 2012 by laying the foundation stone. "Now, his dream is getting realised, as we (the Gujarat government) will now inaugurate the project," Rupani told here.
The project has been completed and will be launched on August 30.
Even as the state administration readies to brace with the ensuing water crisis, experts like Alagh feel that the government needs to play a pro-active role in improving water delivery which requires sufficient investments.
"Urgent check-dam repairs and desiltation of dam reservoirs is a must, which has been long neglected," claims Rabari.
On the whole, Gujarat's agriculture growth story, Alagh explains, is not as rosy as it is painted (double digit growth rates) and not even as grim as some paint it out to be. "Gujarat has been more or less steadily clocking a 5-6% agricultural growth rate, which is decent provided the area is huge. There has been focus on high yield commercial crops off late. Wheat and paddy cultivation have picked up, and these are all good signs," he adds.