Water from the Narmada river will be routed to the lake surrounding the prestigious Statue of Unity to ensure it is picture-perfect on the day of its inauguration.

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Just recently, Chief Minister Vijay Rupani had declared the entire district of Kutch and six tehsils of other districts as scarcity-hit areas after inadequate rainfall. During the Gujarat polls, the river's waters were used to fill the Sabarmati riverfront in Ahmedabad so that Prime Minister Narendra Modi's seaplane could land. The state will release water from the Sardar Sarovar Dam on October 31 to fill the artificial lake surrounding the SOU.

Prime Minister Modi will inaugurate the project that includes an exhibition gallery and research centre, besides the statue on Sardar Patel's birth anniversary. The 182-meter tall statue is located on Sadhubet (a landmass) in the Narmada river basin. The artificial lake is spread over 12 sqkms and is located 3.2 kms away from Sardar Sarovar Dam. A total of 84 million cubic metres (MCM) of water is needed to the fill the lake, of which 6 MCM is already present. Sources say before inauguration, the government will release an additional 78 MCMs of water.

As of Thursday, the reservoir has 6,323 MCM of water, just 67% of its capacity. Lack of rains has prevented the reservoir from getting full. "There is no option other than filling the lake with water from the Narmada river," said a source from the planning committee, "as it is a must for beautification of the project. The water can be sent back to the dam through pumps, or can be flowed downstream."

Deputy chief minister Nitin Patel, who is also the minister for the Narmada department, could not be reached for his comments.

Shaktisinh Gohil, Congress spokesperson, said that it was shame that when the state's farmers were suffering due a water crisis, so much stored water would be used for a "publicity stunt".