In Kutch, history has a habit of repeating itself


The region is witnessing its worst drought in 30 years; 16 of its 20 dams have gone dry; there is drinking water but nothing for cattle; and yet, its people remain resilient

Given that it is one of the most arid regions in India, a drought is not something that the people of Kutch, Gujarat, are unfamiliar with. What differs each year is the intensity. This year has turned out to be the worst since 1985-88, when the district faced three successive years of severe drought.

The shortage of water and fodder has gone from bad to worse in the past six months and there are at least three months to go before the onset of the South-West monsoon.

Worry about the future is writ large on the faces of villagers, most of whom have a sense of deja vu, bringing to mind the hardships they faced in the 1980s. Of the 20 small and large dams in the district, which has a total capacity of 332 Million cubic meters (MCM), 16 have no water. As on March 15, the gross storage of these dams shows just 16 per cent water.

The monsoon played truant in most of Gujarat, but Kutch, due to its arid climatic conditions, had to bear the brunt of the scarcity. The average rainfall deficit for the district was about 74 per cent and in some districts worse as high as 97 per cent....Read more

 

Source web page: Business Line

 

 


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