PM Modi Unveils SAUNI Project, Seeks To Quench Parched Saurashtra’s Thirst

Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated his pet project, Saurashtra Narmada Avtaran Yojana (SAUNI) today (30 August). It was conceptualised during his tenure as the chief minister of Gujarat and was kickstarted barely three months before the 2012 assembly elections.

The project is aimed at quenching the thirst of drought-prone Saurashtra region in the state. It involves transporting water from the Narmada river to 115 dams in Saurashtra peninsula, irrigating about 4.13 lakh hectares (ha) land, helping lakhs of farmers who suffer from frequent droughts.

The project which entails laying 1100 km of water pipelines underground will set the exchequer back by Rs 12,166 crore.

Today, Modi dedicated the first phase of Link I the project to his home state. This will supply water to about 30 dams and connect Morbi and Dwaraka districts.

Link two will connect Surendranagar district to Amreli district, and will be supplying water to17 dams. Link 3 will also take water from Surendranagar and transport it to Rajkot district, supplying water to 28 dams. Link 4 will connect Limdi Bhogavo II dam to southernmost Gir Somnth district transporting water to dams along the way.

Apart from Narmada, floodwaters of Mahi and Sabarmati rivers can also be channeled to supply the water to SAUNI network.

Today, phase 1 of link 1 involving 57.67-km long network has been commissioned. All the work on four links of the phase 1 is scheduled to be completed by the end of this year.

The government is looking to wrap up the entire project by 2019 end.

Hero image credit: @narendramdi twitter handle