Gujarat government has initiated works on the three Narmada branch canals in Kutch and North Gujarat. The canals with about 986.88 kilometers will be built at the cost of Rs 712 crore and will provide Narmada water to 158 villages of Patan, Banaskantha and Kutch districts.
Narendra Modi, Chief Minister of Gujarat laid the foundation stone for the three construction works of Kutch and Radhanpur branch canal and its distribution system. In a statement issued on Saturday the government informed that the work of constructing 85,000 km long Narmada branch canals throughout the state was going on in a full swing. Modi mentioned that the Centre was giving 90 per cent grant for the irrigation projects in other parts of the country, while it was not ready to give same amount of grant for Narmada canal work. "Instead of making injustice to Gujarat, the Centre should think of competing with it in a healthy way," said Modi.
Modi also alleged the Centre for sabotaging the progress of Gujarat by not giving approval to put gates over the Sardar Sarovar dam. The state revenue minister Anandiben Patel mentioned that the branch canal would bring a make over to the Patan-Radhanpur region. The canal will be started in Vallabhipur with the cost of Rs 200 crore, she added. Jaynarayan Vyas, state health minister noted that Narmada water would revitalize 11 lakh acres of land of Patan district and would also push animal husbandry activity and increase milk production.