Rajkot Junagadh Kutch Porbandar Water Shortage Summer News Gujarat India

Cultivation area for summer crops like sesame and pulses has shrunk by 1 lakh hectares.

The Saurashtra region and Kutch region, which is reeling under a drinking water scarcity, is now facing the problem of unavailability of irrigation water, leaving the farmers high and dry.

The total cultivation area for summer crops like sesame, pulses, millet and groundnut has shrunk by one lakh hectares, implying the yield will go down by at least 50 per cent.

Sowing in — Rajkot District, Jamnagar District, Junagadh District, Amreli District, Surendranagar District, Porbandar District, Bhavnagar District and Kutch District — has been over. The total cultivation area has touched the 1.62 lakh hectare mark, nearly 1 lakh hectare less than the previous year. Last year, the cultivation area for the main summer crops remained around 2.64 lakh hectares.

Bhartiya Kisan Sangh Secretary Laxman Patolia said: “Water is not available to the farmers either through bore wells or the pipeline supply. Farmers cannot even think of sowing and cultivation.”

A senior agriculture department official said on condition of anonymity that the water crisis has led to a shrinking of the area under cultivation.

“The farmers are going to miss one season. For the past 5-6 years, the rainfall had been good; the farmers could take summer crops also. But this is not the case this time, which means a big revenue loss for the agriculture sector,” Patolia added.

Sesame cultivation has been the worst affected. The sowing area has gone down by 67 per cent — from 63,772 to 21,077 hectares. In the last couple of years, sesame has emerged as one of the best cash crop for farmers in Gujarat. But this time, the water scarcity has changed the scenario a bit.

Junagadh City tops the list of areas under sesame cultivation at 6,785 hectares followed by JamnagarCity and Surendranagar City. These were the districts that received better rainfall.

In other districts, sesame sowing has remained between 500 and 1,500 hectares. Cultivation of black gram (urad dal) has gone down by 66 per cent — the sowing area has shrunk from 1,771 to 598 hectares. In case of groundnut, the sowing area has shrunk by 55 per cent.

The sowing of millet has been reduced by 15 per cent, from 17,592 to 15,094 hectares. In Junagadh and Surendranagar districts, millet has been sowed on 4,750 and 3,975 hectares, which were 6,785 and 5,550 hectares last year.

Junagadh Urban Development Authority Tourism News Gujarat India

In a state witnessing fast urbanisation, the Junagadh Urban Development Authority (JUDA), set up in July 2008, is yet to undertake even the basic exercises for town planning and expansion due to absence of technical staff.

Though the state government had appointed an executive officer in December 2009, the official is not in a position to start any project in the absence of town planner, surveyors, land record keeper, accountants and other supporting staff required for an urban development agency.

Junagadh City Local BJP MLA Mahendra Mashru said that Gujarat State Urban Development Minister Nitin Patel has promised him to appoint these staff and personnel as soon as possible. But Junagadh Deputy Mayor Girish Kotecha, a Congressman, said that so much delay in the appointments indicates step-motherly treatment meted out to the town located near Somnath Mandir and Gir National Park, the last habitat of Asiatic lions.

JUDA executive officer Jayesh Gadhia admitted that he alone could not undertake the works of an urban development agency. He said the government had sanctioned a total of 27 staff, including himself for JUDA but they were yet to be appointed. “I am hopeful that I will get my staff as early as possible,” he said.

While Patel refused to comment on the required appointments, saying, “it is JUDA chairman’s duty to arrange staff’’, Junagadh District Collector A R Parmar, who heads the Authority, said he was waiting for staff.

Kotecha said that against financial allocations of Rs 100 crore each for municipal corporations of Bhavnagar City and Jamnagar City for 2010-11, merely Rs 25 crore have been allocated for the JMC. He said the JMC, which came into being in 2004, required more funds for development to meet the requirements of lakhs of pilgrims visiting temples at nearby Girnar Hills every year.

The Bhavnagar Municipal Corporation, Jamnagar Municipal Corporation and Junagadh Municipal Corporation have 17 wards each and 51 corporators, with each ward electing three corporators. According to Kotecha, the areas on the outskirts of the city could be developed properly if JUDA began town planning schemes, with plans for roads and other amenities.

Solar Industry Ahmedabad Rajkot Junagadh Baroda Surat News Gujarat India

In a bid to boost use of clean energy, the Gujarat government is planning to frame guidelines for introduction of solar power lit billboards in the state, a top official said here today.

"We are thinking to introduce solar power lit billboards in seven big cities of the state to reduce consumption of energy generated from coal-fired power plants," Principal Secretary Forest and Environment S K Nanda said.

"The idea is to give a push to solar industry in the state," Nanda said, on the sidelines of a FICCI seminar.

Major cities like Ahmedabad City, Vadodara City, Surat City, Rajkot City, Jamnagar City, Junagadh City and Bhavnagar City are likely to be covered.

"With big-ticket advertising coming into play, especially after mega events like IPL, introduction of solar power lit billboards will be a feasible option to promote clean energy concepts," Nanda said.

Departments of Forest, Energy and Urban Development would meet soon to take this idea forward, he said adding, "A state-level steering committee could be set up to frame guidelines for this project."