Responding positively to an initiative by Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, the Madhya Pradesh government has decided to release water from the Gandhi Sagar dam for irrigation in the scarcity-hit areas of Rajasthan’s Kota and Bundi districts.
Speaker Birla had taken up the issue with MP Chief Minister Mohan Yadav following persistent demands from farmers in his constituency.
Birla said, “Following insufficient rains so far, crops in Kota and Bundi are wilting for want of water. Farmers have been visiting me for the past three to four days, demanding an adequate water supply through the canal system to save their crops.
“I spoke to Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Mohan Yadav Ji, seeking his help in solving the problem faced by our farmers by releasing water from the Gandhi Sagar dam. We were told that farmers get water through canals from the Rana Pratap Sagar dam, which is already facing inadequate water reserves. So, it was decided that Madhya Pradesh would release water into the Rana Pratap Sagar Dam, from where it would be supplied through canals to the scarcity-hit areas.”
The Madhya Pradesh government has assured that the water will be released later on Friday evening, Speaker Birla said.
Official sources in Jaipur said, “MP will release 6,000 cusecs of water from the Gandhi Sagar Dam in phases. This is the first time that farmers in Bundi and Kota will get water from the Gandhi Sagar Dam.”