Saurashtra has not had a new irrigation dam for the last 20 years, new planning stalled

The last time for irrigation was in the year 2000 when there was a gate with a gate in Jasdan taluka.

Rajkot: In Saurashtra, which has about one third of the population of Gujarat and is the largest source of irrigation facilities for farmers, no new dams have been constructed by the government for the last twenty years and new schemes are also raising questions regarding land acquisition. The construction of the dam has now become more expensive for the government than gold.

Saurashtra zone has 141 demos under medium and large irrigation scheme of which Rajkot district has 25 demos. The previous governments had insisted on building reservoirs due to frequent droughts in Saurashtra but the Irrigation Department has not built any new dam gates for the last 20 years. The last Karnuki dam to be built under the minor scheme near Jivapar in Jasdan taluka in Rajkot district is with a gate. Later a dam was built near Kanesara in Jasdan taluka but it is under minor irrigation and without gates. It was started in the year 2000 and lasted for three years. The dam was built two decades ago at a cost of about Rs 23 crore. The cost of land acquisition for farmers is many times more than the cost of building a dam. According to sources close to the Irrigation Department, about Rs 30 crore was spent on construction of Survo Dam but Rs 600 crore was paid for land acquisition.

Land acquisition is now a major problem in Saurashtra due to which land acquisition is a major problem. Construction of a dam near Sompipaliya village in Jasdan taluka of Rajkot district is in progress but land acquisition is being delayed. The second largest dam in Saurashtra, Bhadar was built in 1960 and lasted for four years. Today, the dam is supplying drinking water to villages, including Rajkot, as well as water for farming in thousands of hectares. In Saurashtra, even new demos of the minor scheme are not planned. Lack of large space for the dam and compensation of crores for land acquisition are the two main reasons. The government's focus is now on supplying water from the pipeline instead of building new dams, officials said.