Author: ANI
Publication: Yahoo News
Date: May 3, 2004
URL: http://in.news.yahoo.com/040503/139/2cvxf.html
In a crisp blow to its critics,
India's most controversial irrigation project has brought life back to
hundreds of drought-prone villages in Gujarat.
A 137-kilometer sub canal of the
Sardar Sarovar dam, the country's largest multi-purpose interstate project
being built over river Narmada, became functional early last year.
The canal is providing irrigation
and drinking water to a massive region between Lilapur and Malia villages,
which had almost turned a desert due to frequent dry spells.
In a sharp contrast to its earlier
image, the once arid wasteland is now dotted by prosperous fields of green
and impoverished farmers have become rich overnight as land prices have
soared.
"This land was not priceworthy as
we faced severe droughts. But now it is called a green belt. With the irrigation
project and the canal coming the prices have gone high but farmers are
refusing to sell their lands even at the high prices...its as much as Rs.
500,000 per hectare," Manubhai, a villager, said.
The Saurashtra and Kutch regions
of Gujarat have traditionally been prone to severe droughts as monsoons
played truant.
Having lived in almost absolute
poverty for ages, farmers, who have tunrned millionaires overnight, are
yet to come to terms with their newfound riches.
"A lot of buyers are coming now
but the farmers do not really know their land's worth...so are not ready
to sell it. Earlier this area which was known as the dry area is now green
area and after the irrigation network is completed the entire area will
be fertile," Gota Bhai Parmar, the village council head, said.
Meanwhile for the government, which
has faced years of protests by environmentalists, the success of the canal
has been quite a morale booster.
"Earlier people used to leave these
places for cities like Surat and Ahmedabad. People are returning to their
villages as they know that their land has become fertile after the canal
construction," Abhay Rawal, the public relations officer of the state agriculture
and irrigation ministry, said. Environmentalists have fiercely opposed
the project saying millions of tribal people will be displaced and benefits
flowing from the dam will be limited.
Cleared by the federal government
in 1987 the project involves the building of some 3,200 small, medium-sized
and large dams on the 1,300-km Narmada river and its tributaries to generate
electricity and provide water to millions of people.
The multi-billion-rupee project
is being largely financed by state governments and market borrowings after
the World Bank withdrew financing in 1993, and is expected to be fully
completed by 2025.
The dam will benefit the states
of Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Maharashtra and Gujarat.
