Drought-hit Gujarat has water for factories, but no water for Kutch farmers

Farmers and activists say the state government is intentionally driving farmers and cattle-rearers out of Kutch to make way for industries.

Business Standard : Bhavanbhai Patel stood facing his farm, as dry and cracked as his farming hands. The 65-year-old farmer lives in Dayapur village in Lakhpat taluka of southern Kutch, which has been receiving erratic rainfall since 2003. His farm comprises a few hectares of green, bright amid the sunburnt fields all around. “The rest belongs to my family, but now only I’m left here out of 10 brothers. Everyone else has gone,” he told IndiaSpend in early February.

Lakhpat is one of 10 talukas in Kutch, the least populated taluka of India’s largest district spanning 45,674 sq km, covering 22% of Gujarat (196,024 sq km). Lakhpat residents keep leaving because, as Patel said, “there is no way to make a living here”. He said his was a basti (hamlet) of 20,000 that is now down to 1,500 people.

“In places like Lakhpat, there is no water. Not even underground water is left that we could pull out and farm with,” said Patel, weary after working for six hours.

Dayapur is 520 km from the Narmada Main Canal, but has not received any water from the canal in the 71 years since its foundation stone was laid, promising to bring the waters of the Narmada river to the parched Kutch, Saurashtra and North Gujarat regions of the state. Already facing years of drought, these regions have seen no rainfall so far in 2019. The India Meteorological Department (IMD) recorded that Kutch saw a 99% departure from normal climate conditions, while other regions’ rainfall deficit is 100%.

This is the third story in our series on drought that is affecting more than 40% of India’s land area. This story examines the situation in Gujarat’s worst-hit Kutch region, where scanty rainfall and rising temperatures have exacerbated competition for scarce water between farms on the one hand and cities and industries on the other, while raising questions over why the Narmada Valley Project’s raison d’etre--to irrigate farms in Kutch, Saurashtra and North Gujarat--remains unfulfilled 71 years on.

Promises made and belied

When the Narmada Valley Project was envisioned in 1946, the government’s plan was to harness water for irrigation and hydropower through construction of the Sardar Sarovar and Narmada Sagar dams, and over 3,000 smaller dams and canals. The first plan proposed that the Sardar Sarovar dam be built in two stages, 160 ft and 300 ft, which was later increased to 320 ft--the height considered necessary for the water to reach the arid Kutch and Saurashtra regions.

After various disputes over water sharing between the states of the Narmada basin--Gujarat, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan--the central government constituted a Narmada Water Disputes Tribunal (NWDT) on October 6, 1969 to settle the matter.