For the first time this year, Gujarat govt has asked civic bodies to submit detailed plans on how they intend to manage drinking water supplies through the coming months, sources told TOI. A Surat Municipal Corporation official said on condition of anonymity that all municipal corporations have been asked to spell out current water demand, likely requirements in the months ahead, the sources they depend on and the contingency measures they can activate.The urgency is most visible in Saurashtra. In Rajkot, only 420mm of rain has fallen so far — sharply lower than the 1,214mm recorded by Sept 9 last year. The shortfall has forced RMC to seek 800 million cubic feet (mcft) of water under Saurashtra Narmada Avtaran Irrigation (SAUNI) scheme to replenish the Aji and Nyari reservoirs. The reservoirs supply drinking water to Rajkot city. The request is unusual during peak monsoon, as civic bodies typically seek SAUNI water later, while the scheme mainly supports irrigation during monsoon and winter.Rajkot draws around 62% of its requirement of 450 million litres per day from the Narmada pipeline. RMC typically seeks another 2,000-2,500 mcft under Sauni between Feb and June. This year, it has already submitted an advance estimate seeking 4,000 mcft to see the city through until the next monsoon. “If we do not get good rainfall by the end of this month, we will have to rationalise water supply,” RMC commissioner Tushar Sumera said. He said the civic body has begun cracking down on illegal connections and water theft, while restricting non-essential bulk use by water parks, construction sites and swimming pools.Conditions are more acute in neighbouring Jamnagar, which has received only about 20% of its seasonal average rainfall. The Jamnagar civic body has discontinued daily supply in six of its 16 wards and now provides drinking water there for about 20 minutes on alternate days. After receiving 550 mcft of Sauni water around three months ago, JMC has sought another 400 mcft. Municipal commissioner Deepesh Kedia said the civic body is also preparing to curb non-essential water use if the situation worsens. “The groundwater situation in Saurashtra and Kutch has deteriorated. In many places, aquifers have gone dry or only saline water is available,” said Yogesh Jadeja, director of Arid Communities and Technologies, an organisation working on participatory groundwater management.AMC rules out water crisisAhmedabad, however, is not expecting an immediate drinking water shortage. “AMC supplies 1,600 MLD of drinking water across the city every day. During summer, this rises to around 1,650 MLD. We have not sought any additional allocation of raw water from the state govt for the summer,” a senior AMC official said.He said Ahmedabad’s raw water comes through the Narmada canal and that good rainfall in Madhya Pradesh has provided some reassurance. “However, as a precaution, we are planning to activate eight French wells around the Sabarmati river. AMC also has the capacity to draw around 300 million litres per day from borewells. We do not foresee a drinking water crisis next summer,” the official said.Vadodara prepares for contingenciesVadodara’s water supply system currently has a capacity to draw around 750 MLD. “As of now, we do not have a problem for the next six to seven months. We do have a contingency plan in place,” municipal commissioner Arun Mahesh Babu said. VMC is working to commission a 75 MLD pumping station to increase extraction. It proposes to build another 150 MLD water treatment plant at Sindhrot. Its contingency plan includes two backups: additional Narmada canal water from SSNNL and emergency augmentation of VMC’s tube well network.Groundwater is the second line of defence. Active tubewells could be operated for more than 20 hours a day, and idle wells can be recommissioned within three days. The plan also provides for tanker supply.Surat secure on drinking waterSurat civic officials said drinking water supply to the city is unlikely to be affected because of the storage in Ukai dam, though the reservoir level is lower than last year. Poor rainfall in Ukai’s catchment has prevented the reservoir from filling further. Surat currently draws its municipal supply largely from the weir-cum-causeway on the Tapi river.
