Water Conservation: If Gujarat Can, Why Can’t Other States?

by Indra
October 15, 2005

Gujarat has waged a novel scheme of building dams on rivers just before they merge into the sea, thus, preventing seawater from entering the coastal lands through river channels during high tide. This scheme will not only check the increasing salinity but also help in water conservation, besides promoting eco-tourism.

Gujarat with a 1,600 km coastline has always been vulnerable to salinity. The problem compounded when the farmers in the coastal region started using excessive groundwater in the mid-1980s. According to official estimates, by the late 1990s, 10.64 lakh hectares of cultivable land along the Gujarat coast turned saline.

Today, huge sweet water lakes have come up along the 1,100 km stretch of coastline in Saurashtra and Kutch where a number of dams have been constructed.

The building of dams is also making water available for irrigation, changing the crop pattern in the process. Till recently, the farmers who used to grow only groundnut and that too during the monsoon, grow millet, corn and wheat even in summers.

Dams on 30 rivers in the coastal region are ready. There are a total of 71 rivers in Saurashtra and 97 in Kutch. Gujarat will build dams on 44 rivers in Kutch and over 15 rivers in Saurashtra in next financial year. And perhaps soon, all the rivers will have dams.

The Government has also fortified the scheme by adding to it the concept of inter-linking. Coastal sweet water lakes are being linked to each other through a network of canals wherever it is technically feasible. This is especially helpful in the monsoons when surplus water can be transferred from one lake to the other.

It is a dream scheme that will change the face of coastal Gujarat.

All the rivers on which coastal dams are being built are non-perennial and generally go dry after the monsoon. Now, these will have lakes on their mouths, thus, providing ample sweet water to farmers. The latest dam under this scheme is on the Meda creek near Porbandar. It has created a sweet water lake from six small rivers which otherwise used to flow into the sea. The 500 m wide dam has created a lake 20 km in length and 5 km in width and that too in an area known for poor crop yield. Is it not something fantastic?

The scheme was first proposed in the late 1970s. Narendra Modi took a special interest and the scheme has become one of the spearheads of the state's water conservation and salinity prevention programme. This successful project in this Western state may be an example that with a will we can overcome even a natural problem. May be other states like Orissa, Andhra, and Tamil Nadu that have a huge coastal line but receives scanty rainfall, can emulate the example of Gujarat. This entry is based on a story in ‘India Today’.

And even in Northern states of the country, including the flood-prone Bihar with huge number of non-perennial rivers, water reservoirs at suitable locations can be created with dams for water conservation for irrigation in dry months. I still remember that small river of my maternal village that has a male name ‘Thora Baba’. Years ago, one of the enthusiasts from the village could get a small dam built. And in draught, it serves as a source for irrigation to certain extent even today with a lot of silting over the years. It also gives some employment and revenue to the village out of fish grown in its water. It can happen with government help and the people’s initiative to find a solution through hard work instead of waiting for doles.

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