Amidst a raging controversy over the sudden release of water from the Narmada dam, which inundated the districts of Narmada, Bharuch, and parts of Vadodara on September 17-19, the Government of Gujarat on Saturday announced a special relief package for farmers hit by the floods, with standing crops destroyed, and property and houses damaged in around 100 villages along the banks of the river.
The Opposition Congress and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) have accused the State government of not following the manual for the process of releasing water from the dam. Both Opposition parties termed the floods a “man-made calamity”. The allegedly sudden discharge of water on September 17 flooded the three districts at unprecedented levels.
The Congress and the AAP allege that the State authorities did not release water from September 11 onward, allowing water to accumulate and “artificially overflow” on September 17 to coincide with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s birth day.
However, the Sardar Sarovar Dam authorities have maintained that the release of up to 18 lakh cusecs of water was necessitated by unforeseen circumstances, including heavy rainfall and flash floods in the Narmada river’s catchment areas in Madhya Pradesh, which led to massive inflows of water despite the absence of a significant forecast.
The Sardar Sarovar Dam, situated in Gujarat, is the terminal structure of the inter-State Narmada river project. The multi-purpose project provides irrigation, electricity, and drinking water to the States of Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, and Rajasthan.
Based on a report on the estimated damage caused to standing crops in the three districts due to flooding, the State government is providing a special relief package from the State Budget, in addition to support from the State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF), to help farmers with their losses.
In a statement, the government said that the benefits would be given to farmers who have incurred 33% or more loss of agricultural and horticultural crops for the 2023-24 kharif season in the villages declared as affected by the district administration, subject to a cap of two hectares.
For non-irrigated agricultural crops, the affected farmers will be provided a relief package ₹8,500 per hectare, in accordance with the SDRF’s norms. For irrigated agricultural and rainfed horticultural crops, they will receive ₹8,000 per hectare in addition to ₹17,000 per hectare, as per the SDRF’s norms. For perennial crops, the assistance will be ₹15,000 per hectare in addition to the ₹22,500 per hectare paid as per the SDRF’s norms. Similarly, for 33% or more of perennial horticultural crops uprooted or fallen per hectare, the affected farmers will be eligible to assistance of ₹1,02,500 in addition to the ₹22,500 per hectare paid as per the SDRF’s norms.
Farmers have to apply online on the Digital Gujarat portal by October 31, 2023.
The Congress has additionally demanded a package for damage to property or houses, and household items, and to small businessmen who have suffered as their premises and stocks were flooded for two days. “There must be a comprehensive package for all the segments of the population that suffered,” Congress’ Amit Chavda, the Leader of the Opposition in the State Assembly, who toured the affected areas, said.
The Congress has also demanded a probe by a Special Investigation Team (SIT), headed by a retired or a sitting judge, to probe the circumstances that led to floods, and fix the responsibility on those who were deliberately or otherwise negligent in not taking timely steps to prevent floods in the river’s downstream areas.
