In yet another effort to tide over the water shortage scenario in the state, the Gujarat government on Tuesday launched a state-wide water conservation programme under the name 'Sujalam Sufalam Jal Sanchay Abhiyan', aiming to conserve an additional 1,100 million cubic feet of rain water.

The state, which received over 100 per cent of its average rainfall last year, had slipped into water shortage, prompting the authorities to suspend water supplies from the ambitious Sardar Sarovar Narmada Dam for agriculture. On August 30, 2017, of the 203 dams in the state, about 100 had a water storage level of more than 75 per cent to 100 per cent of their capacity. However, the latest data as on April 27, 2018 showed 176 dams had water storage of less than 40 per cent.

The month-long drive, that was kicked off from Kosamdi village in Bharuch district on Tuesday by Chief Minister Vijay Rupani, will cover 13,000 such reservoirs to increase their capacity to store rainwater. The government aims to increase the storage capacity of the existing reservoirs by de-silting check-dams and deepening the ponds, lakes and riverbeds, besides cleaning the rivers to accommodate more rainwater storage.

"Under the drive, the state government will revitalise about 32 rivers having length of about 340 km across 30 districts. Also, the cleaning drive will be undertaken for canals of 5,400 km," he said. In order to make water conservation more effective and sustainable, the Gujarat government has sought help from corporates as well as NGOs to support conservation projects under the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) mode.

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