Gujarat government has declared another 468 villages of parched Saurashtra and Kutch region as ‘partially scarcity-hit’. Earlier, the state government had announced 526 villages as scarcity-hit.
Now, the total number such villages reeling under acute water crisis in the state has reached to 994. The government move comes after it faced flak from Supreme Court on late declaration of affected villages as scarcity-hit due to deficient rainfall.
According to official sources, 468 new scarcity-hit villages include 301 villages in Kutch district, 64 in Porbandar, 56 in Jamnagar and 47 in Devbhoomi-Dwarka district. Meanwhile, State Education Minister Bhupendrasinh Chudasama, who heads a sub-committee of minister for the assessment of scarcity, assured that government will take all necessary steps to provide adequate water as well as cattle-fodder in these villages.