Enough water for supply till July 31 in Gujarat, mismanagement of local bodies causing problem: Minister

Correspondent, Gandhinagar

Claiming that there was enough water to meet the daily requirement of around 3000 million liters per day (MLD) in the state till July 31, way beyond the normal time of arrival of the monsoon, Gujarat Water Supply Minister and state president of the ruling BJP Vijay Rupani today said that the ‘mismanagement’ of various local bodies was responsible for the crisis in different areas.

Talking to news agency UNI, on the sidelines of a function at the BJP state headquarters in Koba near Gandhinagar, Mr. Rupani said there was no deficiency in supply. ‘We have enough water and we are supplying the bulk quantity fixed for various districts in routine way. We can supply this quantity even if the monsoon breaks as late as July 31 (normal time being in the second half of June),’ he said.

On being asked about the ongoing water crisis with the on-set of summer in various areas of the state with related demonstrations becoming a daily affair, the minister blamed the local bodies, which were responsible for distribution of the water, squarely for it.

‘The mismanagement of local bodies was causing this crisis. Apart from Saurashtra the ground water level is also normal in most of the areas of the state. We have availability of enough water through Narmada project. The supply side is okay but the proper distribution in some areas was a problem. The local bodies should be blamed for this and they must improve the distribution process to stop the wrong impression that there was dearth of availability of water,’ the minister said.

To a query regarding the deputation of police force to protect the Narmada canal waters in some areas, the minister said,’ it should not be depicted as if we have put a guard on the water resources. In-fact during summers, such precaution was taken to prevent any possible damage to the embankments which can cause large scale wastage of water, which we can’t afford.’ he said.

On his ‘tough’ dual role as a minister and the state unit head of the party at time when assembly elections were due next year, the minister said that he was ready to give up the ministers post as soon as the high-command instructs so.

– DeshGujarat