No water to drink in Jetpur town for past 10 days

Jetpur town in Rajkot district has gone without drinking water supply for the last 10 days as dams from which it used to get its daily quota have dried out and supply of Narmada water has become erratic.

"Bhadar-I dam, the main source of water for the town, went dry almost two months ago. There is no supply of Narmada water from Devki-Galol and Jamvad sumps from where we used to draw water through tankers. So, we have not been able to supply water to households for last 10 days," Suresh Sakharelia, president of Jetpur municipality, told The Indian Express on Tuesday.

The town has a population of around 1.25 lakh and requires around six million liters per day (MLD) water. It is also known for its sari industry. But sources said many units are running below capacity due to shortage of water.

After water level in Bhadar-I dam hit the bottom, the municipality also used to get Narmada water from Gondal by using pipeline which supplies water to Rajkot city. "We used to get around 1.5 MLD water from Gondal. But this supply has, somehow, been disrupted for the last six days. Since water is not available at Devki Galol, we are forced to transport water from Vegdi sump in Jam Kandorana taluka by tankers," Gaurang Patel, chief officer of the municipality said.

Patel said while Devki-Galol was 18 km away from Jetpur, Vegdi was 30 km away and hence the supply dropped further. The municipality has 65 tankers to transport water.

In absence of water supply from municipality, residents have been forced to buy water from private suppliers, who have hiked charges to exploit the situation.

Meanwhile, testing of pipeline from Bhadar-II to Jetpur is going on for last three days.

"We shall get 4 MLD water from Bhadar-II through this 26-km-long pipeline. It is expected to be operational within a day or two. The dam has enough water to supply Jetpur for two months," Patel further said.

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