SAUNI Yojana in Saurashtra | A share of the Narmada

For as long as one can remember, parched landscapes, bone-dry water taps and blistering heat have dominated the folklore of semi-arid Saurashtra. Even modern history remembers chief ministers—as recent as the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) Keshubhai Patel in 2000—who, burdened perpetually by drought-like situations in the region, sent goods trains filled with gallons of water to Rajkot for relief. Thousands have left in search of greener pastures over the years. In the past few decades, though, there have been flickers of hope—rainfall has increased by 12 per cent in the past 30 years, and small dams have facilitated rainwater harvesting. But the most promising element in the story has been the Saurashtra-Narmada Avtaran Irrigation (SAUNI) Yojana, a comprehensive water distribution project launched by the state government in 2012. On July 27 this year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated two new sections of the programme.The plan is ambitious. Under SAUNI, 8.25 lakh acres of land across 970-plus villages will get water for irrigation, and 31 cities will get drinking water benefits. The idea is to utilise the excess Narmada water that drains into the Arabian Sea after the Sardar Sarovar Dam fills up to capacity, and transfer it to Saurashtra through underground pipelines. As a link project, the Narmada water will be diverted to 115 reservoirs across 11 districts of Saurashtra. The reservoirs are connected to lakes and branch canals that run along farms, taking the river water to these regions. The packages 8 and 9 of Link-3 inaugurated by PM Modi last month—who has dubbed the project the ‘lifeline of Saurashtra’—pass through the Morbi, Jamnagar, Rajkot, Porbandar and Dwarka districts. So far, the government claims, 95 per cent of the total 1,371-km pipeline work has been completed. Unlike the Narmada Dam Project for which land had to be acquired, SAUNI relies on laying pipelines under private farmlands.Beyond these prospects, however, lie glaring gaps that have landed the project in sticky controversies. For starters, though SAUNI was announced at an estimated cost of Rs 10,000 crore, the work completed so far has already touched Rs 18,563 crore. And that’s just scratching the surface. A more technical—and crucial—aspect questions the very logic of the project. Under the water distribution award of the Narmada Water Disputes Tribunal (NWDT) in 1979, Gujarat gets 9 million acre feet (MAF) of water, while Madhya Pradesh gets 18.25 MAF, Rajasthan 0.5 MAF and Maharashtra 0.25 MAF. Saurashtra was never part of the allocation plan under the Sardar Sarovar Narmada Dam Project. So, technically, the project works only when there is surplus water, says water expert and former Gujarat minister Jay Narayan Vyas. “Any water storage created will be beneficial, but the question is, where is this water going to come from? First, the use of every drop of water allotted to Gujarat by the NWDT is accounted for. If any water is getting wasted, it’s due to the absence of a canal network in the Narmada command area in North Gujarat and Kutch. The construction of the elaborate canal network is completed on government records, but not on the ground. This isn’t a fair reason to divert that water to Saurashtra.” Over the years, people have rejected several claims made by the government, one of which is that farmers have begun taking three yields. “Only a handful of farmers whose land is close to a functional canal might be taking three yields a year. A majority of the canals were laid out decades ago, long before the scheme was announced. They are broken by the wild growth of ‘gando baval’—prosopis juliflora, an invasive plant species. Building canals is not part of the SAUNI project and the government hasn’t invested in building new canals,” says farm activist Sagar Rabari, also an Aam Aadmi Party leader and former president of the Khedut Ekta Manch.At the policy level too, SAUNI has drawn flak for rendering water management opaque and defying the purpose of the Narmada project that was based on an open canal network. In 2017, the Comptroller and Auditor-General of India (CAG) had pulled up the state for commissioning the project “without ensuring the availability of water”. The opposition Congress, meanwhile, has been alleging heavy corruption. “An analysis by us revealed that prices of all commodities and services have been quoted at 8-10 times the market rates. Corruption is done with such impunity that in some cases, the same contractor has been awarded contracts for similar work for another project at a fraction of the cost,” says Congress spokesperson Manish Doshi.Saurashtra’s water woes were also temporarily abated this year, as the region received over 100 per cent of its seasonal rainfall by just the third week of July, helping recharge groundwater aquifers. The true test of the project will be early next year, ahead of the Lok Sabha polls, when rainwater runs dry. Election after election, SAUNI’s political draw has been more than evident. In 2012, when the project was announced, the BJP won 30 of the 48 seats in Saurashtra. Over four years later, after only one link had been built, the party’s tally plunged to 19 in 2017, though other factors played a part too, such as the Patidar quota agitation. In subsequent years, as more links were completed, and water availability improved with better monsoons, the BJP swept the region again with 40 seats, a near-deluge, in 2022.For Saurashtra voters who for years have depended on the monsoon and its vagaries, the execution of the SAUNI Yojana ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha polls may come as a relief. More importantly, though, it’s crucial for the state government to complete the project soon because, at the review of the NWDT’s 1979 water-sharing order scheduled for next year, Gujarat is reportedly going to ask for a hike. Presenting a ready model for utilising that additional share will certainly make for a more compelling case—in hindsight though, perhaps a somewhat awkward one too for having promised something that isn’t even there to call one’s own yet.

TRENDING TOPICS

SAUNI Yojana in Saurashtra | A share of the Narmada

Though SAUNI Yojana holds out hope for arid Saurashtra, it was never part of the original Sardar Sarovar project and will work only if there is surplus water

'Truth always triumphs': Rahul Gandhi's first comments after Supreme Court relief

Welcome Supreme Court order but legal battle to continue, says Purnesh Modi

FIR against ex-Karnataka Home Minister for 'black & burnt' remark for Kharge

Decoding India's confusing build-up to the 2023 World Cup | Sledging Room, Ep 63

Bulldozer action in Haryana on 'illegal occupied' shanties after 6 killed in riots

Rahul Gandhi back as MP, can contest polls as Supreme Court pauses conviction

Cyberattack disrupts hospitals and health care in several US states

Government delays import licence requirement for laptops, tablets by a month

Nitin Desai death: Police lodges abetment to suicide case against 5

BJP MLA's son fires at tribal man in Madhya Pradesh, case lodged

PUBLICATIONS

TELEVISION

EVENTS

RADIO

GAMING

USEFUL LINKS

PRINTING

WELFARE

DISTRIBUTION

SYNDICATIONS

WEBSITES

EDUCATION