IT WAS IN the second week of October that we met Ratilal Patel, a 63-year-old farmer of Mandvi taluk in southern Kutch. He was waiting for us on a motorbike at Koday village. Motioning us to follow him, he took us to a spot in the village where people had danced in joy when Prime Minister Narendra Modi released Narmada water into the Kutch branch canal on August 28.
Patel did not dance. He did not even visit the site on inauguration day. He dismissed it as an election stunt, and regretted that he had showered colourful petals in the canal during a trial run in July.
The canal looked clean and fine, but there was no sign of water, except a few wet patches at the bottom.
Patel slid down the canal slopes and stood on the canal bed. “Water flowed here for television cameras for a day,” he said. “I haven’t seen the water after that.” Above the canal gate, a long hoarding with Modi’s image still looked fresh.
The Kutch branch canal stretches 357km from the main canal of the Sardar Sarovar Dam to Modh Kuba, which is 45km from Koday. It was built at a cost of around ₹6,500 crore over 15 years, raising huge expectations, and runs through the Rann of Kutch. While 200km of it was completed four years ago, the remaining part got over only recently.
This story is from the December 04, 2022 edition of THE WEEK India.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the December 04, 2022 edition of THE WEEK India.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
What Will It Take To Clean Up Delhi Air?
IT IS ASKED, year after year, why Delhi’s air remains unbreathable despite several interventions to reduce pollution.
Trump and the crisis of liberalism
Although Donald Trump's election to a non-consecutive second term to the US presidency is not unprecedented—Grover Cleveland had done it in 1893—it is nevertheless a watershed moment.
Men eye the woman's purse
A couple of months ago, I chanced upon a young 20-something man at my gym walking out with a women’s sling bag.
When trees hold hands
A filmmaker explores the human-nature connect through the living root bridges
Ms Gee & Gen Z
The vibrant Anuja Chauhan and her daughter Nayantara on the generational gap in romance writing
Vikram Seth-a suitable man
Our golden boy of literature was the star attraction at the recent Shillong Literary Festival in mysterious Meghalaya.
Superman bites the dust
When my granddaughter Kim was about three, I often took her to play in a nearby park.
OLD MAN AND THE SEA
Meet G. Govinda Menon, the 102-year-old engineer who had a key role in surveying the Vizhinjam coast in the 1940s, assessing its potential for an international port
Managing volatility: smarter equity choices in uncertain markets
THE INDIAN STOCK MARKET has delivered a strong 11 per cent CAGR over the past decade, with positive returns for eight straight years.
Investing in actively managed low-volatility portfolios keeps risks at bay
AFTER A ROARING bull market over the past year, equity markets in the recent months have gone into a correction mode as FIIs go on a selling spree. Volatility has risen and investment returns are hurt.
