Water scarcity is the big issue: Advani

MANDATE 2004

Putting aside the Ram, mandir and zeroing in on farmers as the Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) rural constituency, Deputy Prime Minister LK Advani said the biggest problem was an acute shortage of water, which needed to be addressed urgently if a "second green revolution" was to made possible.

Today was the concluding day of Advani's Bharat Uday Yatra in Gujarat, which entered Rajasthan after passing through the drought-hit Sabarkantha district in south Gujarat, which the BJP swept in the last Assembly elections.

Advani also said relations between India and Pakistan, including Kashmir, should be resolved through talks.

When the yatra entered Rajasthan, he was received by Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje and Rajasthan BJP unit chief Lalit Kishore Chaturvedi.

"During the Yatra, I have gauged the depth of one problem that seems to plague most of states""the water scarcity. Whether it is the Cauvery waters in Tamil Nadu and southern Karnataka, the Krishna waters in northern Karnataka, the Godavari waters in Andhra Pradesh and the Narmada waters in Gujarat, the problem is acute," Advani said in Himmatnagar today.

He said the water scarcity had been compounded by a severe drought two years back and in some states, by the neglect of traditional methods of water conservation.

"Our vision of making India a developed economy by 2020 rests substantially on India effecting a second green revolution. But this will not be possible if farmers continue to suffer from shortage of water. Just this morning, I learnt that the gross domestic product growth in the third quarter of this fiscal year was a staggering 10.4 per cent which is a good news. But to sustain this (water) impediment in the path of Indian agriculture must be resolved," he said.

Going ahead with the water-scarcity issue, Advani said the proposed inter-linking of the rivers would be helpful towards fighting the water scarcity. "The next National democratic Alliance (NDA) government will pursue the inter-linking of rivers on a war-footing," he said and added the raising of the Narmada dam

height to 110 metres, will bring in immediate relief thousands of farmers, heralding a new chapter in the economy of Gujarat."

Advani threw his might behind big dams like Narmada. "The Narmada project has been delayed on account of some ill-conceived opposition. But the next NDA government will throw its weight behind the people of Gujarat in ensuring the Narmada project is completed without further delay."

Replying to a question, Advani said he was optimistic about sorting out the Kashmir issue through dialogue with Pakistani. Commenting on Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf's recent statement that his patience was limited on Kashmir, Advani said, "He may have said so because of some compulsions."