Kevadiya: PM Narendra Modi today performed puja of Narmada water here and also congratulated the organizers of the Namami Devi Narmade event here to mark the filling up of the Sardar Sarovar Dam on river Narmada for their aesthetic sense in selecting the venue.

He also elaborated about the benefits of Narmada project to Gujarat on the occasion.

Cogratulating the organisers of the programme for their ”aesthetic sense”, Modi said it is a rare scenery where on one side there is ‘jal sagar’ (sea) and the other side is ‘jan sagar’ (sea of people), and in between there is Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel’s statue showering blessings on people. He said that he was compelled by the scenic beauty of the venue to think about the earlier days when he himself used to do photography. He urged the photographers there to also take the photos of showing the beauty of the venue.

Modi said he was joyous to see the dam flowing at its full capacity for the first time which was an emotional moment.

”The enthusiasm in Kevadia today is the same in the whole of Gujarat. Today the work of cleaning the lakes, ponds, rivers is being done. There is also a program to plant trees on a large scale in the coming days,” he said.

Modi said even in areas of Kutch and Saurashtra where water could not reach for long and people faced several hardships for it, Mother Narmada has blessed the people. He said that the Narmada water was like ‘Paras’ for Gujarat as it turned in to gold the soil of whichever place it touched.

The Prime Minister said an IIM Ahmedabad study revealed that micro-irrigation has resulted in water savings of up to 50 per cent in Gujarat, reduced fertiliser use by 25 per cent, reduced labour costs by 40 per cent apart from electricity savings. On the one had it caused saving and on the other it increased the yield up to 30% and the income of each farmer family per hectare of land has increased by Rs 15500.

Sardar Sarovar project was catering to needs of Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Rajasthan, Mr Modi pointed out.

Gujarat has come a long way now, after seeing those days when there used to be scarcity of water, he said.

”The scope of micro-irrigation was only 14 thousand hectares in the year 2001 and only 8,000 farmer
families were getting its benefits. Today, 19 lakh hectares of land is under micro-irrigation and about 12 lakh farmer families are getting its benefits,” he said.

The water supply through tap in Gujarat has also increased by 3 folds. In 2001 it was only 26% today it is 78% and now a target has been set to cover all the houses with tap water, he said.

He also talked about SAUNI and Sujalam Sufalam schemes and its benefits including inclusion of more and more cash crops by farmers. PM Modi also said that his government was working on several measures to double the income of farmers by 2022.

PM Modi also talked about Ghogha Dahej Ro Ro Ferry service and said that so far over 3 lakh passengers and a large number of vehicles have availed this service which shortens the route between Saurashtra and South Gujarat from 350 km to merely 31 km. He said that now the state government has also given in-principal approval to Hazira Mumbai ferry service. Such initiatives would aid to the development of Gujarat as well as coastal tourism.

In the coming days, tree planting drive will be done on a large scale, he added.

Modi earlier performed the puja rituals to welcome the Narmada water at Sardar Sarovar Dam at Kevadia in Gujarat.

He also visited various ongoing projects around Sardar Sarovar Dam and the Statue of Unity. He visited and reviewed the progress of jungle safari, Eco tourism, cactus garden, Ekta nursery, western India’s first river rafting point, Nutrition Park, mirror maze and butterfly park. He also offered puja in Duttatreya temple situated on the bank of river Narmada in Garudeshwar.