Naval ship carrying water reaches Gujarat port

By Our Special Correspondent

GANDHINAGAR, APRIL 28. An Indian naval ship carrying 30 lakh litres of water from Mumbai reached the Pipavav port in Amreli district in Gujarat today for distribution in the drought-hit Kutch- Saurashtra region.

An official spokesman of the State Government told a joint meeting of the leaders of the legislature parties and the representatives of the trade and commerce and non-governmental organisations, that adequate number of tankers would be rushed to Pipavav to carry the water brought by the ship to the interiors of the Saurashtra region.

The measure was hailed as unprecedented as it was the first time that naval tankers were pressed into service to ferry water, to the arid region. The State Government had already held discussions with Railway officials for running ``water specials'' during the peak summer months.

The Anand-based National Dairy Development Board in response to a request from the Chief Secretary, Mr. L.N.S. Mukundan, has decided to spare 50 rail milk tankers, each with a capacity to carry 40,000 litres, for the supply of water to the drought-hit areas of Gujarat.

According to the NDDB chairman, Dr. Amrita Patel, depending on the Railway logistics and the turn-around period, it would be possible to carry about two million litres of water every day.

At the meeting the Chief Minister accepted some of the ``constructive suggestions'' from the voluntary agencies particularly that of extending Government subsidy for cattle in the cattle camps run by the NGOs and to distribute ``sukhadi'' (a nutritious food) to the people engaged in relief works to supplement the calories required to keep them going.

The NGOs on their part offered full co-operation to the Government to meet the situation.

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