After getting pilloried in the Assembly by the Opposition, the state government has come under further criticism by finance experts on the viability of the Sujalam Sufalam (SS) scheme and also the Narmada project.
A paper in the comprehensive Gujarat development report, prepared by the Gujarat Institute of Development Research (GIDR) has pointed out that the project might not be feasible economically if actual and not subsidised cost of electricity is taken into account. The paper also says that given the huge amount of money that has already been spent for the Narmada project, further investments required to efficiently use the waters is not coming in.
The paper, Infrastructure Development and Strategies for Gujarat, which is written by IIM Ahmedabad’s professor Sebastian Morris, says the concept of using excess (flood) waters to recharge the underground water table might be gainful but the use of storage water from the Narmada reservoir after the monsoon for recharging will be a “social waste”. This had been a key feature in the implementation of the SS scheme.
The paper says, “Since in large areas of North Gujarat and Saurashtra, the value added in agriculture would no longer be economic at the true social cost of electricity used for pumping ground water, the use of Narmada waters stored and brought over long distances to charge village ponds is not economic.”
The paper says that the chief minister’s assertions that electricity will be saved once the Narmada water is made available for recharge is a “red herring” because that assumption is based on the subsidised price of electricity. It asks, “To what extent is SS recognising the true cost of electricity?”
Coming down harshly on delays in the Narmada project, the paper reads: “Even after 8 years since water began to flow in the Narmada Main Canal, coverage of citizens is poor. Narmada waters get parked outside Ahmedabad for a ‘riverfront’ project since the distribution system is not in place.”
It says the Narmada project may not be able to give drinking water to all of Gujarat because of little coordination between various government departments.
Terming the use of water in Gujarat “wasteful and injudicious”, the paper calls for a judicious mix of privatisation and corrections in water and electricity prices to arrive at long-term solutions.
Some suggestions made in the paper include a framework of public private partnerships, privatisation of farmers’ owned distribution companies and a pricing policy that takes into account the earning potential from the availability of water. “The fact that farmers are investing in pumping Narmada water, using electricity and plastic pipes, for as far as three kms from the canal is indicative of the potential of the business,” it says.