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Saurashtra set to get Narmada waters through Rs12,000 crore link pipelines

As part of the project’s Link-I, Narmada water from Machhu-II dam in Morbi district, will be piped 180kms away to Sani Dam in Devbhumi Dwarka district. But, currently, only 57kms of the Link-I is operational between Machu-II dam and Und Dam, Rajkot district.

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Water pumped into Aji-3 link canal in Rajkot district —Gujarat government
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Four years after he launched the Saurashtra Narmada Avtaran Irrigation Project (Sauni) as chief minister of Gujarat, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will return to his home state on Tuesday to unveil phase-I of his pet project that hopes to alleviate water woes in scorched Saurashtra. While the launch happened just months away from the 2012 state elections, the project’s unveiling happens will at a time when the state government will look to capitalise on it a year before the 2017 state elections.

The Sauni Yojana, as it is officially called, is essentially a link irrigation project that will divert one million acre-feet (MAFt) excess over flowing flood water of Narmada to 115 reservoirs across 11 districts of Saurashtra. The engineering scale of the project is formidable. It involves laying of 1,126 kms of trunk pipelines to distribute Narmada’s water across four links. According to the Gujarat government the Rs12,166 crore project will irrigate nearly 11 lakh hectares of farm land across 972 villages.

As part of the project’s Link-I, Narmada water from Machhu-II dam in Morbi district, will be piped 180kms away to Sani Dam in Devbhumi Dwarka district. But, currently, only 57kms of the Link-I is operational between Machu-II dam and Und Dam, Rajkot district.

“Water from Narmada’s link canals will be lifted using powerful motors and it will be pumped ahead from pipelines into dams, minor canals and rivers too,” said HU Kalyani, superintending engineer, Rajkot Irrigational Project Circle.

At the projects first pumphouse at Machhu -II dam that dna visited, ten motors, powered by 2,500 kilo watt energy each, lift up water from Morbi link canal at a height of 48m. This water was then transported through trunk pipelines towards Aji-3 dam, 37 kms away and onwards to Und Dam, 21 kms away. PM Modi will inaugurate the project from Aji-3 dam, by releasing waters downstream in Aji river.

The Sauni project has enthused farmers in the region who are used to below-par rainfall and largely one season of cropping through the year. Rabi (winter) is Saurashtra’s primary cropping season and according to officials of irrigation department, out of 42 lakh hectares, only 11 lakh hectares is irrigated.

Ajit Chabhadiya, 40, from Latipur in Jamnagar district owns nearly 16 acres of land and grows Bt Cotton and groundnut once a year during Rabi season. “With Sauni becoming operational, we will have water to farm thrice during the year.” Pravin Chabadiya, from Thoriyali village said, “Our output is less than ideal due to lack of water. We are currently producing one or less than one quintal of Cotton while six quintals would be ideal.”

The Sauni Yojana relies heavily on energy to pump water into reservoirs. The irrigation department does not plan to transfer the power costs to farmers for now, said AD Kanani, superintending engineer, salinity ingress prevention department. But, locals said that such a move in the future may drive them to protests. “The youth from our villages go out to polish diamonds or work in tile factories as water is not available round the year. If we are to bear extra burden of power in the future, it may reduce our income substantially,” said Mukesh Patel from Thoriyali village.

Independent experts, too, said that the energy intensive nature of the project will be a sticking point. Tushaar Shah, senior fellow, International Water Management Institute said that while firming up storage capacity in Saurasthra was a positive step forward, Sauni’s energy costs is bothersome. “We have seen in the case of Sujalam Sufalam Yojana that when excess water of Narmada is not available for it to flow to North Gujarat’s reservoirs by gravity, it has been pumped at a cost of Rs33 crore per annum,” Shah said. He added, “Since the fundamental of Sauni is to pump water from Narmada’s link canals, it can be energy intensive. But my overall sense is, if Gujarat is able to fill up 115 dams in Saurashtra, it will be good.”

Disclaimer: This reporter's visit to the project site was arranged by Gujarat state government 

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