This has sent villagers in Saurashtra region into a tizzy owing to the acute agrarian crisis
Gujarat’s Phophal river, which is one of the major sources of irrigation for villages in drought-prone Saurashtra region, has dried up. Photo: Vikas Choudhary
Gujarat’s Fofal river, a source of irrigation and other water needs for a section of drought-prone Saurashtra region, is drying up. Photo: Vikas Choudhary
Receding groundwater level has forced cotton farmers in and around Junagarh to spend Rs 3-7 lakh for hiring massive drilling machines that can dig borewells deeper than 90 metres. Photo: Vikas Choudhary
Water from the river goes to Fofal dam and is then supplied to at least 20 villages for irrigation purposes. But no rainfall has reduced the water level of the dried up parts of the river and thus aggravated the acute agrarian distress in the region. Photo: Vikas Choudhary
Residents from Rajkot’s Boriya village bathe their cattle in the shallow water of the river. Photo: Vikas Choudhary
Except rainfall, there is no other irrigation source for the 400 farmers of this village, which is located upstream of the dam built on the Fofal river. Photo: Vikas Choudhary
