Skip to main content

Where did 4.28 MAF Narmada water disappear after Dec 2017 assembly polls? Farmers' leader writes to CM

Counterview Desk
Sagar Rabari, general secretary, Gujarat Khedut Samaj (GKS), has in an open letter to chief minister Vijay Rupani, sought what he calls "transparent account of Narmada water", flowing from the Sardar Sarovar dam into the main canal, suggesting how it may have been misused for political ends during the December 2017 Gujarat state assembly elections.

Text of the letter:

Post-Assembly elections (2017) the issue of Narmada water grabbed peoples attention. Earlier the farmers were being confused by the allegations and counter-allegations on the issue of the dam height and gates. But now, despite the dam gates being in place when the Narmada water has not reached the fields the farmers are beginning to get an idea of the real picture. More so when on January 12, 2018 you advised the farmers not to sow the summer crop, the farmers were truly awakened. For that, many thanks.
At this state I specially wish to draw your attention to the Water Use Plan (guidelines and plan for the use of the water which the Government of Gujarat [GoG] has, from time to time, presented to the World Bank, the Supreme Court and the Government of India [GoI]) made for the water available from the Narmada river. The Plan clearly states two things:
1. The Water Use Plan includes the Narmada water as well as surface and groundwater use plan, and,
2. Any change in the planned use of the water will require the approval of the Gujarat Government without which no change can be made in this plan.
Point No 2: Non-agriculture Use of Water of this Plan states that:
"2.1: NWDT (Narmada Water Disputes Tribunal) considered a water need of 1.06 MAF (million acre feet) for domestic and other non-agricultural uses in Gujarat on full development. These uses include requirements for urban and rural areas mostly in the command but to some extent outside the command where other water supply possibilities did not exist.
"2.2: The total requirement for domestic, industrial and thermal power projects works out to 1.37 MAF including 0.48 MAF from outside sources as given in Table-1.
"2.3: Out of the total requirement of 1.37 MAF for non-agricultural use, 0.48 MAF is expected to be available from local sources while 0.14 MAF is expected from recharge drawls. The balance of 0.75 MAF will have to be met from the Narmada Canal System. Adding thereto losses in the system, the gross demand on the Narmada Canal System works out to around 1 MAF.
"2.5: There is no change in the Industrial Water Supply from the Project. The water usage plan, as such, remains unchanged. However, if surplus water, overflowing Sardar Sarovar Dam during monsoon, is available it was proposed to utilize such water, if feasible, for the Industrial Usage. However, it may be required to clarify in unambiguous terms that the industrial water usage from the Project remains unchanged."

Sagar Rabari
Now to the main issue of the account of water sought from the SSNNL and given by it.
In response to my Right to Information (RTI) application dated February 8, 2018, the public information officer (PIO) and deputy genral manager (Narmada) has, vide response (SSNNL/RTI/2018/26/Dam&Power), has informed me: The total quantum of water available to Gujarat State for the year 2017-18 was 4.80 MAF, of which 4.68 MAF was used up till February 2018.
In response to query No 3 of the said RTI, the executive engineer, Narmada Yojana and Main Canal Section No 2 (inward No:PB-3/RTI/Water/1094/ dated April 30, 2018), states:
"The quantum of water released between 1st July 2017 and 12 January 2018 is:
Irrigation: 297.8681 MCM (million cubic metre)
Drinking water: 197.1627 MCM
Industrial use: 011.8412 MCM
Total: 488.8721 MCM".

When we convert MCM to AF (acre feet), the total comes to 3,96,335.05583 AF (this is the figure till January 12, 2018, i.e. a total of 196 days).
Deducting 3,96,335 AF from 46,80,000 AF, then 42,83,665 AF, i.e. 4.28 MAF water should be available in the dam on January 13, 2018.
This means that:
1. The answers to the RTI queries are not truthful;
2. The water was used for political purposes, rather than the mandated uses; or,
3. There is massive corruption in the usage of the dam water.
The questions, doubts, apprehensions and suspicions arising in the minds of the farmers of Gujarat can only be allayed if you provide honest and truthful answers to the same.
We, the farmers, want to know, from you:
1. Who informed you that there is no water in the dam, if, on January 13, 2018, 4.28 MAF water was available in the dam?
2. On what basis or calculation did your advisor advise you to make the announcement to the farmers on not to saw summer crops?
3. If, however, there was really no water in the dam, then where did the 4.28 MAF water disappeared?
4. Will you order an inquiry into this anomaly? Can the GoG, considered to be among the best in digital India and e-governance, make arrangements to the daily usage of dam water on the Sardar Sarovar Narmada Nigam Ltd (SSNNL) and irrigation department websites?
5. If the information provided to me is false then can you order that I be provided fresh information in simple and easy-to-understand language? Alternatively, can you arrange a meeting of a responsible officer (Engineer) of SSNNL with the farmer leaders to explain the account of water usage?
I hope that you, an advocate of zero tolerance for corruption, will answer my questions honestly and truthfully. If we do not get truthful answers and/or if the officers are not ready to come and talk to farmers then how can farmers trust that GoG and SSNNL are honest and that their water is not being diverted elsewhere? How will they believe that the GoG is not a partner in the criminal misuse or stealth or diversion of the Narmada water?
I am sending a copy of this letter to the Chairman SSNNL for information. The entire Narmada scheme was for the farmers and the people of Gujarat and they have a right to know what is happening there. Hence I am also releasing it to the press for wider coverage.
Hoping for a fruitful answer from you.

Comments

TRENDING

Insider plot to kill Deendayal Upadhyay? What RSS pracharak Balraj Madhok said

By Shamsul Islam*  Balraj Madhok's died on May 2, 2016 ending an era of old guards of Hindutva politics. A senior RSS pracharak till his death was paid handsome tributes by the RSS leaders including PM Modi, himself a senior pracharak, for being a "stalwart leader of Jan Sangh. Balraj Madhok ji's ideological commitment was strong and clarity of thought immense. He was selflessly devoted to the nation and society. I had the good fortune of interacting with Balraj Madhok ji on many occasions". The RSS also issued a formal condolence message signed by the Supremo Mohan Bhagwat on behalf of all swayamsevaks, referring to his contribution of commitment to nation and society. He was a leading RSS pracharak on whom his organization relied for initiating prominent Hindutva projects. But today nobody in the RSS-BJP top hierarchy remembers/talks about Madhok as he was an insider chronicler of the immense degeneration which was spreading as an epidemic in the high echelons of th

Central pollution watchdog sees red in Union ministry labelling waste to energy green

By Chythenyen Devika Kulasekaran*  “Destructors”, “incinerators” and “waste-to-energy (WTE) incineration” all mean the same thing – indiscriminate burning of garbage! Having a history of about one and a half centuries, WTE incinerators have seen several reboots over the 19th, 20th and 21st centuries. 

First-of-its-kind? 'Eco-friendly, low cost' sewage treatment system installed in Gujarat

Counterview Desk Following the installation of the Unconventional Decentralized Multi-Stage Reactor (UDMSR) for sewage treatment, a note on what is claimed to be the  first-of-its-kind technology said, the treated sewage from this system “can be directly utilized for agricultural purposes”, even as proving to be a “saviour in the times of water crisis.”

A Hindu alternative to Valentine's Day? 'Shiv-Parvati was first love marriage in Universe'

By Rajiv Shah*   The other day, I was searching on Google a quote on Maha Shivratri which I wanted to send to someone, a confirmed Shiv Bhakt, quite close to me -- with an underlying message to act positively instead of being negative. On top of the search, I chanced upon an article in, imagine!, a Nashik Corporation site which offered me something very unusual. 

Indo-Bangla border: Farmers facing 'illegal obstacles' in harvesting, transporting yields

  Counterview Desk  In a representation to the chairperson, National Human Rights Commission, human rights defender Kirity Roy, who is secretary, Banglar Manabadhikar Suraksha Mancha (MASUM), has said that Border Security Force (BSF) personnel are creating "illegal obstacles" for farmers seeking to harvest their ripened yields and transport them to the market in village Jhaukuthi of Cooch Behar district.

Wasteland, a colonial legacy, being used to 'give away' vast tracts to Ratnagiri refinery

By Fouziya Tehzeeb* William D’Souza, a 55-year old farmer from Kuthethur, Mangalore, was busy mixing cattle feed when we arrived at his doorsteps. Around 25 km from the bustling city of Mangalore, Kuthethur is a lush green village with thick vegetation. On the way to William’s house the idyllic view gets blocked by the flares and smoke arising from the Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Limited (MRPL).

'Flawed' argument: Gandhi had minimal role, naval mutinies alone led to Independence

Counterview Desk Reacting to a Counterview  story , "Rewiring history? Bose, not Gandhi, was real Father of Nation: British PM Attlee 'cited'" (January 26, 2016), an avid reader has forwarded  reaction  in the form of a  link , which carries the article "Did Atlee say Gandhi had minimal role in Independence? #FactCheck", published in the site satyagrahis.in. The satyagraha.in article seeks to debunk the view, reported in the Counterview story, taken by retired army officer GD Bakshi in his book, “Bose: An Indian Samurai”, which claims that Gandhiji had a minimal role to play in India's freedom struggle, and that it was Netaji who played the crucial role. We reproduce the satyagraha.in article here. Text: Nowadays it is said by many MK Gandhi critics that Clement Atlee made a statement in which he said Gandhi has ‘minimal’ role in India's independence and gave credit to naval mutinies and with this statement, they concluded the whole freedom struggle.

CAA disregards India's inclusive plural ethos, 'betrays' ideals of freedom struggle: PUCL

Counterview Desk    "Outraged" at the move of the Central government to implement the Citizenship Amendment Act, 2019 (CAA 2019) weeks before the election, the top rights group, People's Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL), has demanded that the law be repealed. 

Buddhist shrines were 'massively destroyed' by Brahmanical rulers: Historian DN Jha

Nalanda mahavihara By Our Representative Prominent historian DN Jha, an expert in India's ancient and medieval past, in his new book , "Against the Grain: Notes on Identity, Intolerance and History", in a sharp critique of "Hindutva ideologues", who look at the ancient period of Indian history as "a golden age marked by social harmony, devoid of any religious violence", has said, "Demolition and desecration of rival religious establishments, and the appropriation of their idols, was not uncommon in India before the advent of Islam".

Sections of BSF, BGB personnel 'directly or indirectly' involved in cross border smuggling

By Kirity Roy*  The Border Security Force (BSF) of India and the Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) of Bangladesh met for 54th Director General level meeting at Dhaka, Bangladesh, on 5th to 9th March, 2024 to discuss on minimizing killings at border area, illegal intrusion, trafficking of drugs and other narcotics, smuggling of arms and ammunitions and other crimes at bordering areas. Further, the summit had an agenda to discuss on overall development in 150 yards area at both sides of the border and design an activity plan for the same.