Farmers hit as state, MP wage water war
KOTA WATER FROM CHAMBAL BETWEEN MP AND RAJASTHAN, JAIN SAID THAT CHAMBAL RIVER WATER IS EQUALLY SHARED BY BOTH THE STATES ACCORDING TO AN INTERSTATE WATER SHARING AGREEMENT
: After a tussle over canal water with Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh has stopped releasing water from Gandhi Sagar (GS) dam and said that they made the move as Rajasthan has been releasing less canal watertoMP.
Chief engineer of command areadevelopment(CAD),Rajasthan, Chauthmal Chaudhary reachedKotaandmetthedistrict collector, who is holding additionalchargeasKota’sCADcommissionerafterMadhyaPradesh stopped releasing water.
Chiefengineer,waterresource department, Gwalior (MP), NP Kori said that after releasing waterfromGandhiSagarDamin thefirstweekofOctober,MPhas been demanding that Rajasthan releasearound3900cubicfeetper seconds (cusecs) from its RPS Dam.
However, Rajasthanis releasing only 2300 cusecs of canal water, he added.
“FarmersinMPneedwaterfor Rabi crops but Rajasthan is not releasing sufficient water, so MP hasstoppedreleasingwaterfrom GandhiSagarDamfromOctober 28,” said Kori.
Chambalcanalwaterirrigates Bhind, Murena, Gwalior and ShyopurdistrictsinMPandKota andBarandistrictsinRajasthan.
Talking about releasing less canal water for MP, Jitendra Luharia, superintendent engineer, right main canal, water resource department, Kota, said thatatpresentdemandforirriga- tion waterisatits highest in Kota as the Rabi crop season is on, so more canal water is being provided to Rajasthan than MP but Rajasthan will increase discharge of canal water to MP in a couple of days.
He said that around 6200 cusecs of canal water are being released from the Kota Barrage, out of which, after seepage loss, around 3500 cusecs of water is being supplied to Rajasthan while around 2500 cusecs are being provided to MP.
Talkingabouttheissue, secretary of Rajasthan MP Inter State Control Board of irrigation department,HemantKumarJain said, “MP has stopped releasing water from last four days. The board is making efforts to solve the standoff between both the states.”
Giving insight into the distribution system of water from ChambalbetweenMPandRajasthan,JainsaidthatChambalriver water is equally shared by both the states according to an interstate water sharing agreement.