Claiming it to be the biggest project of its kind, Gujarat Chief Minister Anandiben Patel recently dedicated to the public the Swarnim Gujarat Bulk Pipeline project for supplying drinking water to 17.5 million people of Saurashtra and Kutch regions.
The CM inaugurated the project which will pump Narmada water from Dhanki in Surendranagar districts to Saurashtra and Kutch regions by three bulk pipelines of 2,400 mm diameters. The government has built three huge pumping stations at Dhanki.
The three bulk pipelines will carry 1.65 billion litres of Narmada water daily from Dhanki to Hadala near Rajkot, Khirai near Maliya-Miyana in Morbi district and Navda in Botad district. From these points, water will be supplied to 4,710 villages of 102 towns of Saurashtra and 877 villages and 14 towns of Kutch. The project will make drinking water available to 17.5 million people of the twin parched regions, the CM said.
“These pipelines will take care of seepage, illegal taping and evaporation faced by open canals. Now, water will be available in homes of people. This will also be a huge relief to girls in Kutch who could not go to schools as they would have to walk long distances to fetch water. Now parents should ensure that these girls attend schools,” CM said after inaugurating the project. The state government has spent Rs 24.56 billion on the project which took about 2.5 years for completion.
While Dhanki-Hadala bulk pipeline is 146 km long, Dhanki-Khirai line, which will also supply water to Kutch region, is 120 km long. The Dhanki-Navda line, which runs parallel to Vallabhipur branch canal of Narmada is 94 km long.
The CM said this was the largest drinking water supply project of India and among the largest in the world. Water supply minister Vijay Rupani said the project would prove to be boon for the twin parched regions.
“Almost 70 per cent of dams in Saurashtra and Kutch regions have gone dry. Had there been no supply of Narmada water, people would have been forced to migrate. But thanks to the vision of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the scarcity of drinking water will become a history in Saurashtra and Kutch,” said Rupani.
