PATAN (GUJARAT): In a move to counter the strong Patel lobby of farmers, the Gujarat Chief Minister, Narendra Modi, on Thursday launched the Rs. 6,000-crore "Sujalam Sufalam" irrigation-cum-water supply project to benefit 10 water-starved districts. The dream project of Mr. Modi, conceived in 2005, envisages taking Mahi water from the Kadana dam through a 330 km canal to north Gujarat, joining on its way 21 small rivers and rivulets to provide irrigation to over 1.20 lakh hectares besides increasing the watertable in the region and drinking water to over 3,900 villages.

The project, still under various stages of implementation, was launched by Mr. Modi by electronically opening the canal at Balisana village in Patan district in the presence of over a lakh of beneficiary farmers brought from different parts of the State.

Diverting flow into sea

The project was conceived to divert millions of acre-feet of water in the Mahi river, flowing into the sea from the overflowing Kadana dam in the Panchmahals district during monsoon every year. According to one estimate, more than 65 million-acre feet of water had flown into the sea from the Kadana dam when its upper catchment areas in Madhya Pradesh received heavy rainfall last year.

The timing to officially launch the still-incomplete project was viewed as a major move to counter the campaign by the Congress and the strong lobby of Patels, the land-owning farmers, projecting Mr. Modi as "anti-farmer."

The anti-Modi forces, cutting across party lines, assembled in Surat on Monday asking the Patels to "identify their enemy" and vote out the "anti-farmer government."

Launching the project, Mr. Modi, the Agriculture Minister, Bhupendrasinh Chudasama, and other members of the Modi Cabinet lashed out at the Congress-led UPA Government at the Centre, blaming it for all problems faced by farmers in Gujarat.

Mr. Modi claimed that the project was initially cleared by the Centre when the A.B. Vajpayee Government was in power and it agreed to provide all necessary financial assistance to the State Government to implement the ambitious project.

But the UPA Government refused to honour the previous government's commitment and stopped all financial help. "The State Government on its own decided to continue the project for the benefit of the farmers despite the huge financial burden," he said.

Farmers left in lurch

Even under the accelerated irrigation scheme being implemented in the State, the UPA Government reversed the NDA Government's policy of 70 per cent assistance and 30 per cent loan suddenly increasing the State Government's burden. "Even the 30 per cent assistance later dried up leaving the farmers in the lurch," Mr. Modi said.

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