Botad: Krishna sagar talav built by former Bhavnagar State ruler Krishna kumar sinhji will be filled with Narmada water on April 17 in presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. 130 hectare Krishna sagar water body has been the source of drinking water for 1.13 lakh people of district headquarters Botad.

Krishna sagar talav was built by Krishna kumar sinhji to counter the issue of lack of sufficient rain in Botad area and frequently occurring situation of water scarcity.

The water body was created in upstream area of Botad town in 1938. It was utilised for drinking water supply to Botad until 1985. After completion of Sukhbhadar project, both Krishna sagar and Sukhbhadar have been sources of water for Botad. In recent years Mahi – Pariej water project has become main source of water supply for Botad.

A year after its construction, Krishna sagar talav witnessed overflow in year 1939 due to heavy rain in upstream area.

This 106 million cubic meter capacity water body used to receive sufficient rain water till 1991. But later due to construction of check dams in upstream area, it started receiving only 25-50% water every monsoon. However in 2007, due to very good rain, the water body witnessed overflow for once, but that was a rare instance.

In response to people’s wish that Krishna sagar should be filled with Narmada water, the State government worked in this direction. In 2012 then Chief Minister Narendra Modi arrived here and performed ground breaking for Narmada water supply to Krishna sagar under SAUNI project. Then Chief Minister is now Prime Minister of India. He is arriving in Botad on April 17th to dedicate Narmada water supply for Krishna sagar. Along with drinking water supply, Krishna sagar will also lift up the ground water level in surrounding areas.

DeshGujarat