Dang : Nal Se Jal project makes Sakarpatal and Manmodi villages of Dang rich in water. Any combination of technology and resilience can overcome any of the world’s difficulties. A similar use of technology was seen in remote areas of Dang, a tribal district of Gujarat.Under the Jal Jeevan Mission, the state government has shown strong commitment to the development of the tribal areas by providing their basic rights i.e. clean drinking water to the people of the hinterland areas like Sakarpatal and Manmodi of Dang. Dang, a tribal area at the end of Gujarat, receives the highest rainfall in the state, but in spite of heavy rainfall, in some mountainous areas, people do not collect rainwater and for seven months after the monsoon, they have to wade for water.Now with the help of state-of-the-art technology under the government’s Jal Jeevan Mission, clean and adequate drinking water is being made available to such villages timely. The people of ‘Sakarpatal’ and ‘Manmodi’ villages in Waghai taluka were forced to face water problem first. The villagers had to walk one and a half to two kms to fetch drinking water, in which they wasted a lot of time, as a result of which their daily activities like farming or labour work were disrupted. To solve this problem of the people, the committed state government under the ‘Nal Se Jal’ scheme has constructed one km from the banks of Ambika river ,Water was delivered to the houses of these two villages situated on a distant hill. Under the water supply scheme, 3 RCC tanks and a pipeline of more than 6 km have been fitted at a total cost of Rs. 17.30 lakh to supply water to Sakarpatal village, while in Manmodi village the pipeline is constructed at a total cost of Rs. 11.65 lakh. RCC, 1 HDPE Tanks as well as pipelines of more than 4 km have been laid down.
Arrangements have been made by the government to supply water from village wells to tanks and from there to people’s homes through this distribution system. A special facility has also been set up to automatically draw water from wells made at different places so that water problem does not arise even when the water level drops in summer. With the public welfare scheme of the state government, drinking water facility would be provided to about 1315 people living in 302 houses of ‘Sakarpatal’ village and 650 people living in 115 houses of Manmodi village. Now they do not need to travel miles for the sake of drinking water. Since the well in Sakarpatal is very far from the village, two wells on both sides of the river were connected. In a well near the village, an automatic mobile starter has been used to turn off the automatic motor with the help of a mobile. So with just one miscall the work is completed and time is saved.
Sarpanch of Sakarpatal village Mangeshbhai Gohel says that under the Nal Se Jal Yojana under the leadership of the Prime Minister, 100 per cent tap connections have been provided in our village today along with the connection of wells through which the villagers are getting sufficient water as per their convenience and need. Talking about the situation of women in the village, Surekhabahen Chauhan, a member of the water committee of the same village, said that earlier it used to take one and a half to two hours for the women of the village to fetch water from the river. Now that every home has a tap connection, everyone is getting water at home and lot of time is saved. Sarpanch of Manmodi village Mahendrabhai Gamit said that a pleasant change is felt in the village. Earlier, we had to walk far from the village to fetch water from the river even at late night 2 am, but now water is reaching our homes. Plumbing work has also been completed in the houses that were left behind last year. Expressing happiness, Dakshabahen Gamit, a member of the village water committee, said that delivering pure water in Dang district is a huge task of the government, which has been made possible due to strong will. The state government has provided 143 km pipeline network, 48 pumping stations, 27 headworks, 8 sub-headworks, 81 water tanks, 251 underground tanks and 1,467 km of pipelines through group water supply schemes. The distribution pipeline has enriched not only these two villages but the entire Dang district.
