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dam-l LS: DtE on Gujarat Water Riots
from Down to Earth, Vol 8, No 16 January 15, 2000
http://www.oneworld.org/cse/html/dte/dte2000115/dte_fort.htm
Riots for water Faced with a severe drought, the Gujarat government
decided to reserve water from a dam for the town of Jamnagar. Rural
folk of Saurashtra protested. In the ensuing riots, three people died
MANISH TIWARI Jamnagar / Rajkot
Here is something for those who would not believe that the wars of
this century will be fought over water-related issues. Three people
died and 20 were injured on December 14 in Falla village, 28 km from
Jamnagar town of Gujarat, when the police opened fire on a mob of
about 300 people from the neighbouring rural area. The people had
gathered to protest against the state government's decision to
reserve water from the nearby Kankavati Dam for Jamnagar town - a
decision favouring urban people at the cost of rural folk. The dam
has become the only source of water for about 60 villages near Falla,
and has very little water. This year, the rainfall recorded in this
area was 148 millimetres (mm), compared to the annual average of 550
mm. People of the area point out that the groundwater has become
saline due to overextraction (see p30: Standing the test of drought).
But the most worrying part of the situation in Saurashtra region of
the state is that summer is a good four months away, and nobody seems
to have a clue as to how the administration will deal with water
scarcity when the problem is unmanageable in the winter. Already, 14
villages including Hadiyana, Limbuda and Jodiya are being supplied
water from the dam by tankers
On December 20, more than 15,000 farmers assembled in Falla to
condemn the deaths. The meet was called by the Bharatiya Kisan Sangh
(BKS), a farmers' association that joined the agitation nine days
after people of Falla decided to begin a protest fast on December 2.
The BKS is affiliated to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which is
in power both at the Centre and in the state. The BKS leaders blamed
the state government for taking a wrong decision favouring Jamnagar
town, while ignoring the villagers need for drinking water. After the
incident, the state government has reversed its decision and will
reserve the water for the villages. "The decision has come only after
a great loss to our village. We never knew that we will have to
sacrifice three lives to ensure that we get drinking water for the
water-scarce villages near the dam," said Veljibhai Dhamsania,
vice-president of the Falla gram panchayat (village council), who has
been at the forefront of the movement against the government decision.
Reeling under a drought "After two months, when the water in the dam
is finished, even Falla may face a severe water crisis. For the
villages here, there is no other source of drinking water for the
next six months," said Jethalal R Aghera, president of the Jodiya
block panchayat in Jamnagar district. "This year, the demand is not
for irrigation water but for drinking water. We know that the water
in the dam is not enough to even meet our drinking water needs," said
R Kanani, former vice-president of the Falla village council. "We are
surviving only by God's grace. If there are no rains next year, we
will have to migrate from the village," said Dhamsania.
"Several governments came to power. Several water projects were
formulated. But the water scarcity in the region has only been
getting worse," said Gokulbhai Patel, president of the district unit
of BKS. The people of Falla complain that none of the parties that
came to power in the past 20 years have taken the water problem
seriously and that the government only talks about bringing water
from the Narmada dam project.
While the administration is supplying drinking water by tankers,
other uses of water like irrigation have taken a backseat. "Tankers
can only supply drinking ater. But from where will we get water for
cattle and irrigation?" asks a resident of Falla.
A political opportunity The residents of the area as well as the
district administration blame politicians for the unfortunate turn of
events. "This conflagration is a result of the conflicts among
leaders of the BJP. Parmanand Khattar, the state's urban development
minister, was trying to get water for Jamnagar town which he
represents. On the other hand, the minister in charge of Jamnagar
district, Murubhai Bera, and Chimanbhai Sapadia, the road and
building minister (panchayat department), have been trying to get the
water for the villages," Dhamsania observed.
Those in touch with the politics of the district and the state point
out that Khattar had his eyes set on the forthcoming corporate
elections, and wanted to get the maximum mileage for his candidates.
Sapadia and Bera, on the other hand, had been trying to win the
confidence of the rural folk to better the chances of their
candidates in the approaching panchayat elections for the village,
block and district level. People of Falla also blame Narottam Patel,
the state's water resources minister, for not taking a timely
decision.
"They were consolidating their vote banks, and I lost my son," rued
Raghavji Parshottam, 46. His 21-year-old son, Kamlesh Raghavjibhai,
was killed in the police firing. Several officials of the Jamnagar
district administration also believe that politicians are trying to
take advantage of the situation and are hardly bothered about the
core issue of water. They agree that the main fight is between BJP
politicians who are thinking about the coming panchayat elections.
"There are no clear-cut instructions from the government to the
district administration about how the issue should be tackled. Unless
there is a political will to solve these problems, they will
continue. But politicians are hardly concerned," says a senior
official, asking not to be named. "I think that in March-April 2000,
there will be more water riots in the district and other parts of
Saurashtra region," says another official.
But is the district administration without blame? Says Dhamsania:
"When we went to the district magistrate, he told us that the
government has decided to supply water to the villages through
tankers. We asked him what would be the source of the water when
water from the dam is supplied to the town. He said there is no
alternative. Moreover, the administration made false statements in
the press that we had stopped a gas tanker and were trying to
overturn it. We know how dangerous it is to overturn and burn a gas
tanker; it can destroy the entire village. We have more than 200 gas
connections in the village. We are not morons." The administration,
however, is not accepting the responsibility for the police firing on
December 14. "The police opened fire in self defence. They did not
seek any orders from us," said Girish Murmu, district magistrate of
Jamnagar. The government has ordered an enquiry by a retired judge.
The unrest in Rajkot A senior district administration official in
Rajkot said water scarcity is likely to pose a serious law and order
problem. C J Ruparelia, chief engineer of the Gujarat Water Supply
and Sewerage Board pointed out that Rajkot town is being supplied
drinking water for 20 minutes in two days.
Sudhir Joshi, a Rajkot-based leader of the Congress, said, "Come
February-March and water riots are bound to take place across
Saurashtra. Right now, the unrest is not so apparent as the BKS
(which is at the centre of the struggle in Falla) is affiliated to
the BJP. "The people of several villages such as Alamtra, Gauridad,
Mitana and Bedi have punctured the pipeline coming from Wankaner to
Rajkot," he pointed out. A district administration official confirmed
this.
However, Vijay Anadkat, deputy executive engineer, Rajkot municipal
corporation, denied these reports, saying that the breaches had to do
with technical snags. He pointed out that the administration was
digging borewells as deep as 1,800 feet (about 550 metres) in the
catchment basins of Aji, Nyari and Lalpari dams. "We also buy water
from privately-owned bores that still have water," said Ashwini
Kumar, sub-divisional magistrate, Rajkot. "Had it not rained in
October in Rajkot, we would have had to invest about Rs 6 crore for
providing drinking water through tankers in the city," said Anadkat.
The present drought has made it clear to the people that the only
long-term solution to the water crisis lies in rainwater harvesting
and watershed management. The people of Falla pointed out that they
have recently demanded the construction of five check dams in the
village to stop rainwater. Kunwarjibhai Yadav, national president of
the BKS, said the association is planning to take up watershed
development projects on its own, without seeking the government's
assistance, concluding: "We have to catch water right where it falls."
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