Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday reviewed the drought situation and water scarcity situation in his home State Gujarat with Chief Minister Anandiben Patel.
The meeting assessed that despite two successive years of deficient rainfall, Gujarat has recorded 95 per cent crop production because of the measures taken by the State Government.
The meeting attended by Chief Minister Anandiben Patel here was also told
that the work done by the State Government for the water grid has resulted in only 568 tankers being required for water distribution in some remote tail areas, a PMO statement said.
The Prime Minister, while appreciating this effort, called for further action to completely eliminate the need for tanker supply, the statement said. Patel gave details of the work done by the State Government towards water conservation, recharge and creation of water bodies.
She said 1.68 lakh check dams, 2.74 lakh farm ponds, 1.25 lakh Bori Bandhs have been made with storage capacity of 42.3 billion cubic feet water, benefitting 6.32 lakh hectares. Piped water supply is being provided to 77 per cent of households in the State, the Chief Minister added.
The meeting was told that the measures undertaken have resulted in a reasonable amount of drought-proofing, despite deficient (about 80 per cent of long-term average) and skewed temporal distribution of rainfall, it said.
The Prime Minister is in the process of meeting Chief Ministers of 11 drought-hit States. He has already met eight Chief Ministers.