Gandhinagar: Gujarat government today in a statement asked farmers to stay away from Narmada water oriented sowing in upcoming summer.

The government in a statement said, dams in Narmada basin areas are having less than 45% storage at present. The farmers will be supplied irrigation water only upto 15 March 2018. They are asked to stay away from sowing in summer if they are banking on Narmada water supply for irrigation.If at all they want to do sowing in summer, they will need to manage irrigation water through other available sources.

Sardar Sarovar Narmada Nigam Ltd (SSNNL) in this statement further said, the decision has been taken to ensure sufficient drinking water supply to crores of people of the State limited storage of water available this year.

The statement informed that in a meeting of Narmada Control Authority held in new Delhi on January 10, a decision was taken to cut water supply due to lack of enough storage in the dams of Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh. Generally, Gujarat is eligible for allotment of 9 million acre ft water but the present allocation is only 4.71 million acre ft due to lack of enough storage in dams.

It should be mentioned here that water supply for winter crop in Narmada command area will continue upto 15th March this year, after which in Narmada command area or any other area, Narmada water will not be supplied for irrigation.

Narmada water supply will continue in group water supply systems as it is.