Ahmedabad, Aug 10 (PTI) Senior Congress leader Jagdish Thakor on Thursday criticised the Bharatiya Janata Party after an MLA wrote to Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel claiming two dams planned by neighbouring Congress-ruled Rajasthan could create acute water shortage in north Gujarat.
BJP MLA and former minister Ramanlal Vora had recently written to CM Patel on the issue of Rajasthan planning to build dams on Sabarmati and Sei rivers.
Alleging that the BJP was raising the issue in view of the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, Thakor said, “What is the use of the BJP government if it can not protect the rights of people of the state? If construction of dams would amount to any violation of a previous agreement, then I request the BJP government here to take necessary steps in this regard,” Thakor told reporters.
Speaking to reporters in Modasa town of Arvalli district, he added, “But, it seems that the BJP is raising this issue in view of the Lok Sabha elections to be held next year. BJP wants to take political advantage by inciting people. But, people will not be carried away by such strategies.” As per some media reports, the Ashok Gehlot government in Rajasthan has begun work on a project of building two new dams on inter-state rivers Sabarmati and Sei near the border with Gujarat. Sei is a tributary of Sabarmati river.
In 1978, a large dam near Dharoi village in Mehsana district was built on the downstream of Sabarmati river.
Ramanlal Vora, who represents Idar seat of Sabarkantha district, had claimed in his letter to the CM Bhupendra Patel that Dharoi dam will not get any water if dams are built in Rajasthan on Sabarmati.
“The main source of Dharoi dam is water coming from Rajasthan. If the Rajasthan government builds two dams on the upstream of Dharoi dam, then Dharoi dam may not get any water. This will create water scarcity in five districts of north Gujarat, especially Sabarkantha and Mehsana. In future, farmers of that region may have to migrate,” Vora said in his letter.
The former minister then urged the state government to check with the Centre about this project and take appropriate steps. PTI PJT BNM BNM
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