Saurashtra Narmada Avtaran Irrigation (SAUNI) is a project launched by Indian

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is ...

Narendra Modi Narendra Damodardas Modi (; born 17 September 1950) is an Indian politician serving as the List of Prime Ministers of India, 14th and current Prime Minister of India since 2014. Modi was the List of chief ministers of Gujarat, Chief Minist ...

with objective of filling 115 major dams by diverting floodwaters overflowing from the

Sardar Sarovar Dam The Sardar Sarovar Dam is a concrete gravity dam built on the Narmada River in Navagam near the town of Kevadiya, Narmada District, in the state of Gujarat, India. The dam was constructed to provide water and electricity to four Indian stat ...

across the Narmada river to the drought areas in Saurashtra region of

Gujarat Gujarat (, ) is a state along the western coast of India. Its coastline of about is the longest in the country, most of which lies on the Kathiawar peninsula. Gujarat is the fifth-largest Indian state by area, covering some ; and the nin ...

state of India.

Objective

The project acts as a 'linking' project where the water will be filled in irrigation dams that are already equipped with canal network. The key features include: *115 dams in the

Saurashtra region Saurashtra, also known as Sorath or Kathiawar, is a peninsular region of Gujarat, India, located on the Arabian Sea coast. It covers about a third of Gujarat state, notably 11 districts of Gujarat, including Rajkot District. It was formerly a s ...

will be filled with excess water *around 10 dams and reservoirs of

Rajkot Rajkot () is the fourth-largest city in the Indian state of Gujarat after Ahmedabad, Vadodara, and Surat, and is in the centre of the Saurashtra region of Gujarat. Rajkot is the 35th-largest metropolitan area in India, with a population of ...

Jamnagar Jamnagar () is a city located on the western coast of India in the state of Gujarat of Saurashtra region. It is the administrative headquarters of the Jamnagar district and the fifth largest city in Gujarat. The city lies just to the south o ...

and

Morbi Morbi or Morvi is a city in the Morbi district in the state of Gujarat, India. It is situated on the Kathiawar peninsula. , the city's population was determined to be 194,947. The city is on the Machhu River, from the sea and from Rajkot. ...

districts will be filled with water *making pipe canals instead of the conventional open canals *1125-km network of pipelines that will help to channel water into farms.

Background

The Saurashtra (region) of

which includes 11 districts that face drought-like situations often and has been reeling under severe

water scarcity Water scarcity (closely related to water stress or water crisis) is the lack of fresh water resources to meet the standard water demand. There are two types of water scarcity: physical or economic water scarcity. Physical water scarcity is whe ...

due to scanty rainfall.

has storage capacity which is further distributed to states of

Rajasthan Rajasthan (; lit. 'Land of Kings') is a state in northern India. It covers or 10.4 per cent of India's total geographical area. It is the largest Indian state by area and the seventh largest by population. It is on India's northwestern s ...

and Maharashtra. A lot of floodwaters still overflow the dam especially in the monsoon season and end up going to the sea route. Gujarat's share is around MAFT in that floodwater. With the new scheme, the water will be distributed to all the big reservoirs.

Objectives

It acts as a link project and aims to fill irrigation dams which includes canal networks to channelise water to the farmland. It will also have pipe canals instead of open canals and this makes the project unique because pipelines will be underground under private land while pumping stations will be built on government land. The project also has a potential to create about 8,800 jobs each year.

Estimations

The government has been making budgetary allocations for the project for the past three years, has set aside for 2016–17, and taken a loan from

NABARD National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) is an apex regulatory body for overall regulation of regional rural banks and apex cooperative banks in India. It is under the jurisdiction of Ministry of Finance, Government of India ...

in name of

Gujarat Government The Government of Gujarat, also known as Gujarat Government, is the supreme governing authority of the Indian state of Gujarat and its 33 districts. It consists of an executive of the legislators appointed by the Governor of Gujarat, a judiciary ...

for irrigation projects. The project is estimated to allow irrigation over an area of around 59,000 hectares with the pumping motors that may consume 84,000 kVA at full load. RIDF fund of has been allocated till 2016 for construction of pumping stations, managing valves and putting pipelines.

Criticism

According to some officials, the costs involved in managing the pumping of water through electric motors will make it an expensive project against other projects with open canals though it saves the overhead of the government to acquire land for making of canals.

References

{{coord missing, Gujarat Modi administration initiatives Ministry of Urban Development Narmada River Dams in Gujarat Economy of Gujarat Irrigation in India