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| Water politics may leave
citizens thirsty |
AHMEDABAD: Hardened postures of the state government and the
Congress-ruled Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation may aggravate water
scarcity here soon. While the BJP-ruled state government asked the
corporation to either pay up Rs 14 crore water arrears or face scant
water supply, the AMC has retorted saying water crisis in Ahmedabad
was the making of the state government itself.
Reacting to the government's posture, Mayor Himmatsinh Patel
said that BJP has stooped to such a level that it is now playing'
water politics'. Accusing the government of 'step-motherly' treatment
compared to other corporations, Patel said that entire cost of Raska
weir project was borne by the AMC itself.
He alleged that the government, without taking the AMC into
confidence removed octroi on petrol, diesel and telecommunications
equipment entailing a loss of Rs 40 crore to the corporation.
Currently, the city is fulfilling its water needs, partly from
Kadana Dam through Raska weir pump house, getting four crore gallons
per day, while another 6.5 crore gallons comes from 406 bore-wells.
But in the past one month, water supplied from Kadana Dam was fluctuating
due to less water released and most of the water was being used by
farmers through the Shedi canal.
"The past one month saw steep fluctuations when water supply
at Raska dropped to 2.6 crore gallons, which was grossly insufficient
to fulfill the city's requirement," says Liyaqat Ghori, Chairman,
AMC Water Supply Committee. According to him, if the state government
keeps the supply at Raska at 6.5 crore gallons per day water can be
given to Ahmedabad two times a day but as of now AMC finds it difficult
to keep water supply going even once a day.
At present the city is getting water for two hours in the mornings
but even then there were complaints of low pressure and water going
off from taps 15 minutes before the scheduled time.
Meanwhile, leader of opposition in AMC and BJP leader Dharmendra
Shah ridiculed Patel's allegations and urged him to focus on supplying
water to citizens instead.
He demanded immediate repair of around 30 borewells
which are lying idle for the want of repair.
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