Thousands of farmers gathered in Palanpur, Banaskantha district, north Gujarat, on Thursday to demand that the state investigate the possibility of filling the water reservoirs – Karmavat Lake and Mukteshwar Dam – with Narmada water to alleviate the area’s water shortage.
The protest rally drew over 20,000 farmers from 125 villages in Vadgam and neighbouring Taluka. “People in the area have been experiencing severe water shortages for more than two decades as annual rainfall has decreased and underground water has depleted. The only solution is to fill these two reservoirs with Narmada water “M.M. Gadhvi, a member of the farmers’ protest organising committee, stated.
According to farmer leaders, Karmavat lake is spread over 98 hectares, and Mukteshwar dam has a water capacity of around 30 million cubic metres. If water is drawn from the Narmada canal at Didrol village in Sidhpur Taluka, a pipeline can be built to the Mukteshwar dam and then to Karmavat lake. The underground water level is currently at 800 feet.
