Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate first phase of Rs 12,000 crore Saurashtra Narmada Avtaran Irrigation (SAUNI) project on Tuesday near Dhrol town of Jamnagar district in Gujarat.
The foundation stone of the SAUNI project was laid by PM Modi in 2012, when he was Gujarat Chief Minister. SAUNI is aimed at providing sufficient irrigation water to farmers of Saurashtra region. Once the project is completed as many as 115 irrigation dams in Saurashtra region will be filled with surplus water of River Narmada.
“With the completion of the first phase, 16 reservoirs across five districts will get 8,861 million cubic feet (mcft) water, which will help irrigate nearly 68,000 hectares in Saurashtra region. Of the 16 reservoirs, six are in Morbi district, three each in Rajkot and Surendranagar districts and one in Botad district,” said a senior official with the State Irrigation Department.
He said that ahead of the inauguration as many as ten dams have already been filled with surplus Narmada water. Four pipeline links are being developed in order to link the 115 reservoirs with a 460-km-long network, said the official, adding that of these, a 444 km pipeline network had been constructed. Besides 70 per cent construction of pumping stations and more than 96 per cent work of laying pipelines is completed, he added.
Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani claimed that once the project would be completed, farmers of Saurashtra region will be able to grow three crops per annum. Farmers of over 5,000 villages will be benefitted in Rajkot, Jamnagar and Morbi districts immediately due to completion of first phase, said Rupani.
Interestingly Modi will attend first public meeting in his home State Gujarat after becoming Prime Minister in May 2014. Though, he gave speech during the inauguration of Vibrant Gujarat Summit — 2015 but it was inside Mahatma Mandir Convention Hall and to the business community only. This is PM Modi’s second visit to Gujarat in August 2016. He visited Sarangpur town on August 15th to pay last respect to spiritual leader and head of Bochasanvasi Akshar Purushotam Swaminarayan Sanstha (BAPS) Pramukh Swami. In a fortnight’s time, his visit to Saurashtra region would be second.