Banaskantha (Gujarat): The prices of dal and vegetables are skyrocketing in north Gujarat, and there are villages that do not have a drop of water.
The lifeline for 4,000 villagers of Dodusan, a border village in north Gujarat, a well, has dried up. Sometimes a little rainwater accumulates and villagers race to collect the drops.
"There is just no water. It has become a rare commodity. We are surviving somehow. The government and local leaders don't care," said Sita, a villager.
A tanker arrives with 10,000 litres of water once a day, which is 2.5 litres for each villager. The queues form at daybreak. The old and feeble never quite manage to get near the tap.
"Just one tanker full of water for the entire village. Look at the well, it is dry," said Parimal, a villager.
Gujarat has received less than 20 per cent of its annual average rainfall. And the northern areas, being its driest belt, are struggling.
"Unless we get rains over the next one week, we shall have a real crisis on hand," said Gujarat Cabinet Minister Jay Narayan Vyas.
A canal, meant to fetch water from the Narmada, has been lying dry since it was constructed in 2007.
While the big talks of Gujarat government of reaching water in every village in the state now sounds hollow, it is evident that the much-hyped Narmada Project has failed miserably as far as its mission to make Gujarat water-sufficient is concerned. The scarcity has already sparked off mini water riots. And the fear is that blood will be spilt over water.
"When there is a bit of rain, people fight over water. God knows when this will change," said Parimal.