Former chief minister Keshubhai Patelhas chastised chief minister
Narendra Modi for the delay in completing the canal work of the Sardar Sarovar
Narmada dam. In his blog, Patel has said that had Modi made sincere efforts
during his 11-year tenure as chief minister, the Narmada project would have
been completed twice over and even the Kalpsar project would have been
finished. “But even today, about 12,000 cusecs of water is flowing into the sea
and farmers are forced to purchase water at a high price,” Keshubhai has
written. Keshubhai goes on to say that according to the 2011 census, 1.21 crore
houses did not get pure drinking water. He then says that according to the
census report, over 39.7 per cent houses get untreated water in villages. He
has also remarked that the Comptroller and Auditor General of India had
castigated the state government for not making arrangements to provide pure
drinking water to people. In 2008, 5.67 lakh cases of diarrhoea were reported
and the number increased to 6.73 lakh cases in 2010, he has written.
Without naming Modi, Keshubhai has written that the BJP government was focusing on campaigns but ignoring the problems of people. The BJP had promised a tanker-free Gujarat in 2007, but the people were still dependent on tankers, Keshubhai has stated. “Had the government completed the Narmada project in 2008, the state would not have faced any water crisis,” he has argued.
Without naming Modi, Keshubhai has written that the BJP government was focusing on campaigns but ignoring the problems of people. The BJP had promised a tanker-free Gujarat in 2007, but the people were still dependent on tankers, Keshubhai has stated. “Had the government completed the Narmada project in 2008, the state would not have faced any water crisis,” he has argued.
