From Jal Khambata

NEW DELHI: Even while the Prime Minister has set the nationwide
alarm bells over the most severe drought in Gujarat and
Rajasthan, the BJP-ruled Gujarat Government on Wednesday sought
to paint a rosy picture, claiming to have already contained the
situation with no cause for more worries.

But for the advance planning since September after
failure of the normal rainfall, Gujarat would have faced the
worst famine surpassing the nightmarish conditions that
prevailed 100 years back in Vikram Samwat 1956, Gujarat Minister
of State for Information and Broadcasting Haren Pandya affirmed
on Wednesday.

On a day's trip to Delhi to publicise all that the Gujarat
Government was doing to meet the challenge of drought, Pandya
claimed the state government "has been able to contain the
adverse impact of such widespread drought" only because of its
foresight and advance planning.

In a detailed 6-page Press note, Pandya listed the steps the
Government has taken and claimed adequate budget provisions have
been made "to meet all the expenditure required to provide
relief to drought-affected people of Gujarat."

Satellite imaging to locate sub-soil water sources and use of
the latest equipment to lay a 34-km long pipeline in a record
time of three months for drinking water to Ahmedabad were cited
by Pandya as instances of the advance planning the government
undertook to brace up to meet the drought.

The Ahmedabad pipeline costing Rs 110 crores which was formally
inaugurated by Home Minister Lal Krishna Advani the other day
was "a model of efficient project implementation," Pandya said.

The deceptive rains in September and October delayed the formal
announcement of "Anavari" system of estimates only in December
but the data has now been supplied to the General Insurance
Company to take group insurance with the farmers, Pandya
disclosed.

He said the state government has already banned movement of
fodder and a high-level committee is busy making purchase of
fodder from Madhya Pradesh, Punjab and Haryana to ensure
survival of cattle.

The Government has already distributed five lakh quintals of
fodder while it has another one lakh quintals of fodder in its
stock and it is trying to purchase another eight lakh quintals to
stave off crisis until the next rains. Purchase of two lakh
quintals has been already formalised.

Pandya's case is not that his government has pulled Gujarat out
of the scarcity conditions, but he says the government swung
into action early rightly judging the impending crisis and
started most of the schemes in October to complete them by March
to prevent water crisis.

Even while admitting that four metropolitan cities, 79 towns and
9421 villages were facing acute water shortage, Pandya listed
the steps the government took to ensure at least minimum water
supply to all urban and rural areas.

He said the Government has not only taken care of this year's
drought but it has launched a massive scheme of digging 2000
"talabs" (tanks) and 2000 check-dams under people's
participation scheme to ensure there is no drinking water crisis
again next year. People are bearing 40 per cent cost while the
rest comes from the government, he disclosed.

Pandya said water trains would be run from four water filling
stations to be set up in Gujarat on the Narmada, Mahi, Datarwadi
and Moj rivers and reservoirs.

He also claimed that the Gujarat Government lost no time in
quickly implementing the Centre's scheme of 20 kg wheat per
family announced only last Saturday. The state government
already had adequate stock of wheat on hand at all places and
the Centre's decision to provide additional wheat at the BPL
(below poverty line) rates would further strengthen the public
distribution system in the state.

Already 3000 relief works have been opened to provide employment
to 4.5 lakh people rendered jobless because of the drought
wiping out agricultural avenues, Pandya added. END.