Does Narmada river vary her flow as per Gujarat’s election cycle?

In its bid to win the Gujarat Elections, the Bharatiya Janata Party has wasted a huge amount of water from the Narmada Reservoir, that resulted in a drought-like situation across Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh. The situation is so grave that the water level in the Sardar Sarovar Dam reservoir reached to the lowest level. Realising its misdeed and panicking, the Gujarat government has now asked farmers not to sow summer crops. Not only this, it has announced that not a single drop of water will be available for irrigation this summer. Also, it has been announced that water supply for drinking and industrial purposes will halved in the months to come.

The brunt of BJP’s election stunt has also landed on neighbouring Madhya Pradesh, which says that Gujarat is putting pressure on it to release more water from another two dams, namely Indira Sagar and Omkareshwar. MP says that declining level of these dams is affecting irrigation and fisheries.

Media reports suggest that current water level in Sardar Sarovar dam is at a 15 year low. It is to be noted that Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the Sardar Sarovar dam in December, 2017, just before the assembly elections for Gujarat were announced. He claimed at that time that this dam will end all water problems for Gujarat. PM Modi and every BJP leader in their election rallies called Narmada a ‘life line’ for Gujarat and claimed that Narmada has played a significant role in the lives of Gujaratis.

But, just two months after elections, Gujarat has been put under virtual water emergency. The chief minister Vijay Rupani in a program categorically stated that, “No water will be available for irrigation.” Similarly, Chief Secretary of Gujarat JN Singh and Chairman and MD of Sardar Sarovar Dam AS Rathore had also said that the supply of potable water in urban cities and industries will be cut down. It was decided in a meeting of Sardar Sarovar Reservoir committee on January 10 that Gujarat will be allotted 4.7 million-acre feet of water, which is almost half in comparison to 9 million acre feet in 2017. The CEO of Sardar Sarovar Narmada Nigam Limited (SSNNL) has said that the Gujarat government is not bound to supply water for the crops grown in summer.

The data suggest that on December 1, 2017, the water level in Narmada dam was above 123 meters. The level went down to 112 meters within two months as there was less water in the catchment area of Narmada. It is important to note here that minimum level of the dam is 110.64 meters. This means that only 1-meter water can be taken out from the dam.

Gujarat is pressurising Madhya Pradesh

Madhya Pradesh states that after the rainfall ended in September last year, the water level in Narmada dam was 131 meters and the water coming from the upper lands was also good. But, slowly it started shrinking and in December, water in the dam reached down to around 124 meters. This was alarming. Experts say that after this situation, water should have been used carefully and there was an urgent need to chalk out alternative ways to preserve and arrange for water. But due to Gujarat elections, the Government was forced to released 12-meter water within two months of election. The situation subsequently went out of control and now the water level in Narmada dam has reached at its minimum level. The water can be stored up to 138-meters in this dam.

Considering the severity of the situation, Gujarat has started pressuring Madhya Pradesh to give them more water. The Gujarat government is continuously pushing MP to release extra water from Indira Sagar and Omkareshwar Dam. Due to this, Madhya Pradesh has to release 1.40 crore square metre daily from Indira Sagar and Omkareshwar Dam.

As a result, the water level of Indira Sagar Dam in MP has also gone down to 252 meters. The minimum level of this dam is 247 meters. This means that level of water should not go down below this level. This is the lowest water level till date of Indira Sagar dam. In such a situation, under Punasa Irrigation scheme, the farmers will receive water 3 times only, as against 5 times.

As the data emerged regarding the sinking water levels and the water situation became bleaker, the farmers’ organisation in Gujarat, Kheddat Mandal have started preparing for protests. The organisation argues that the government has wasted water just to woo the farmers and garner votes from Saurashtra.