Drinking Water Crisis in Kutch

A Natural Phenomenon?
This paper discusses how a natural water scarcity in the Kutch region of Gujarat has been
converted into a severe water crisis due to the approach of the post-independence water
resource development and utilisation. It also brings out the impact of three decades of
relentless extraction of groundwater resources and its almost irreversible effect on the land
and water resources of Kutch
CHARUL BHARWADA, VINAY MAHAJAN
I see a truck coming,
carrying the dead bodies of cows
I see another one going,
carrying green grass for the cattle camps.
Suddenly I see, a protruding leg of a dead
cow
scratching against the grass,
splashing down few blades of grass,
My heart bleeds.
how much the poor life would have starved?
If her lifeless leg is longing so much to
touch the grass.
Kavi Tej (original Kutchi lines by
well known Kutchi Poet on 1987
drought)

hese lines truly describe the severity of the 1987 drought in Kutch.
The poet shared them with us during
our first meeting. After reciting this moving
Kutchi poem, he told us, Other years are
not too different anymore. An avid
birdwatcher and nature lover, he also told
us how the number and diversity of migratory birds have reduced in past few
years because of the unprecedented scarcity of water and vegetation. Besides giving an idea of the current situation in
Kutch, this conversation also gave us an
impression of its past. Probably earlier it
was not so bad, we thought.
This north-western region of Gujarat is
nationally known as water scarce and
drought prone. Owing to its semi-arid
character, scarcity of water is not a recent
phenomenon in Kutch. What is recent is
the problem of drinking water despite
having one of the largest piped water supply
networks in Gujarat, covering 92 per cent
villages of Kutch. More than 20 per cent
villages, however, remain under tanker
water supply. The annual expenditure on
tanker water supply exceeds Rs 20 million
besides large capital and operational expenses of the public water supply schemes.

Economic and Political Weekly

The urban water supply situation is no

better. As potable water is becoming scarce,
the private water market is growing in
every small and big town of Kutch. Despite
huge investments in piped water supply,
this region of Gujarat reels under a severe
drinking water crisis throughout the year.
Modern and traditional technologies are
failing, wells and bores are drying up
rapidly, even tubewells are fast turning
saline and drinking water quality is deteriorating. This is happening not in one
village or in a taluka, but all over Kutch.
Ironically, This is the region that has
witnessed the rise of one of the oldest
civilisation, the Indus Valley.
The problem of drinking water is often
blamed on the natural water scarcity in the
region and low rainfall. Often a solution
is seen in getting water from outside. In
this paper, we discuss how natural water
scarcity has been converted into a severe
water crisis due to the post-independence
water resource development and utilisation
approach. The paper also brings out the
impact of three decades of unprecedented
extraction of groundwater resources and
its almost irreversible long-term impact on
the land and water resources of Kutch.

I
Regional Characteristics and
Pre-Independence Context
Kutch is the largest district of Gujarat,
embracing more than 45,000 sq km, occupying 23 per cent of the total area of the
state. In Sanskrit, Kutch means area surrounded by water, a name derived from
kachhua, or tortoise. Interestingly both
in plan and 3-D Kutch looks like a tortoise in
the water. The vast expanse of this geologically rich and complex region comprises several distinct sub-regions named

November 30, 2002

after their special ecological and social

characteristics. Though officially not recognised any more, these names still remain in
average Kutchi consciousness and popular
language, like kanthi for coastal region,
and makpat for misty lands of northwest. The land of Kutch offers a large
variety of landscapes from east to west and
north to south a rich composition of
drylands and green fields, black hills and
the unending Arabian sea, white salt lands
called Rann and beautiful grasslands. The
social mainstream has evolved due to the
confluence of a large number of ethnic and
religious communities that came from Sindh,
Marwar, Baluchistan, Saurashtra and other
regions. The dynamics of acculturation
processes, conversions, reconversions and
migrations back and forth have given rise
to the complex ethnic assemblage. In 1818,
Dalpatram Khakkhar, an educationist of
Kutch, described more than 110 castecommunity groupings [Gala 1989].
Rainfall in Kutch is rather erratic and
low averaging 350 mm in a year, with wide
variations from year to year. Rainfall is
highly localised, and comes in heavy spates.
Such sudden spates and their high velocities cause heavy soil erosion and reduce
the natural groundwater recharge. Generally, in every 10 years, three years are near
dry, three have low rains, three are normal
years and there is one year of aboveaverage rains. Complete failure of rains
once in three years is part of the cultural
knowledge for Kutchis. It is commonly
believed that the present water crisis is due
to decliming rainfall but an analysis of the
past 110 years (1878-1988) rainfall data
shows that the rainfall pattern has remained
largely unchanged. Failure of rain is an old
phenomenon in Kutch.
The topography is diverse in different
parts ranging from high hills and plains

4859

to grasslands and the Rann. More than 50

per cent of the total area is Rann. There
are no perennial rivers. Seasonal rivers
originate from the central uplands and flow
either towards the Greater Rann, Little
Rann or the sea. There are about 97 rivers
and rivulets. The temperature varies from a
maximum of 45 C during summer to a minimum of 2 C in winter. High temperatures
and dry weather cause high evaporation
from surface waters, up to 8 feet per annum.
Large parts of the Kutch land mass were
formed in a marine environment, which is
the main reason for the inherently saline
groundwater. Usable groundwater is found
only in the central region and a small part
of the coastal belt covering an area of
2,700 sq km, less than 15 per cent of the
mainland Kutch known as the tubewell
zone as shown in Figure 1. But at the
deeper levels this zone also has inherent
salinity of marine formations. In all other
places groundwater is available in shallow
unconfined conditions. The natural characteristics of the water resources in Kutch
can be summed up as follows:
(1) No perennial rivers, low rains, and high
evaporation rate together contribute to poor
surface water resources;
(2) Large parts of Kutch formed under the
sea limiting the availability of potable
groundwater.
(3) Kutch being a self-contained geohydrological unit, no potential of recharge
from neighbouring areas is possible;
(4) In vast lands where the topography is
favourable for recharge, the inherent salinity of the land renders it unsuitable for
storing sweet water.
Thus the only renewable natural source
of water is the annual rainfall it receives.
Given the geographical proximity, the
waters of the river Sindhu appear to be an
obvious alternative but that too is not
feasible. The Indus water treaty signed by
India and Pakistan in 1962 gave away the
rights of the western rivers like Jhelum,
Chenab and Sindhu to Pakistan and those
of Ravi, Beas and Sutlej to India [Thakkar
and Thakkar 1988].
Scarcity of water affects every sphere of
life in Kutch. Distinctly different lifestyles
and cultural patterns have emerged hinging on and around water along with numerous practices of water conservation
and domestic water use patterns.
Kutch had been an independent state
during British rule and had a well-developed national and international trading
system. When most of the maritime states
joined or were forced to join the Indian

4860

Figure 1: Usable Groundwater (Tubewell) Zone

PAKISTAN

GREATER RANN OF KUTCH

banni grasslands
RAPAR
BHUJ
AR

LITTLE RANN

NALIYA
AB

IA

SE

TDS in ppm
Salinity at all levels
Usable groundwater

F
F O
UL

KU

TC

10 0 10 20 30 40 KM

Source: Planning Atlas of Gujarat, GoG, 1987.

Customs Union under British rule, Kutch

always struggled to remain independent.1
Due to this, Kutchs trade suffered heavily
during the colonial period. Even after 1947,
it remained a separate state of India until
1956. This independent state became a district of bilingual Bombay state in 1956 and
finally a district of Guajrat state in 1960.
Owing to large grasslands and a long
coastline, livestock management, a continuation of the Sindh-Marwar pattern and
maritime trade became the backbone of
mainland Kutchs flourishing economy.
Just to illustrate the significance of pastoralism, despite the severe drought of
1987, Kutch has a higher livestock population (14.2 lakh) compared with the human
population (12.6 lakh).2 While quoting
the travel notes of Captain Alexander
Burnes, who travelled in this region during
1824-28, Rushbrook captures aspects of
Kutchs old economy:
The foreign trade by sea continued to be
important and the restoration of order had
favoured the growth of a considerable pack
traffic from Kutch and particularly from
the Abdasa, to Marwar and Gujarat. One
of the striking features of the economy of
the state at this time was the flourishing
condition of the pastoralists as contrasted
with the cultivators. On the grazing lands
to the north of Kutch and on the Rann
islands, large herds of cows, buffaloes,
camels and flocks of sheep and goats were
maintainedThe lot of cultivators was not
so good. In bad seasons while villages
would move away to Sinda great deal
of food was imported, particularly coarse
rice from Sind and dates from Arabia
[Rushbrook 1956].

In Kutchs long history of maritime trade,

Mandvi, Mundra, Jakhau, Koteshwar and
Lakhpat have been famous ancient ports.
Except Mandvi and Mundra, others are
now out of use for various reasons. Firstly,
large modern vessels could not be anchored at smaller ports such as Mandvi,
Jakhau, and Mundra, etc. Secondly, with
the establishment of a modern port like
Kandla, all sea-trade was diverted there.
Moreover, siltation, lack of maintenance
and unfavourable policies have further
reduced the utility of the ports. However,
Mandvi has continued its shipbuilding
activities. The excellence of Kutch also
lied in its craftsmanship. Gold work, silver
wares, iron and copper work, glazing,
polishing, cotton spinning, weaving and
embroidery were the hallmark of Kutchi
handicrafts.
Agriculture in Kutch had never been a
widely practised occupation due to low
productivity of lands, low rainfall and poor
availability of water. Uncertainties of
rainfed agriculture had always been very
high, resulting in great dependence on
foodgrain from outside, particularly Sindh.
Frequent failures of rainfall would completely wipe out the crops. The conditions
of the Kutchi farmer had been poor in most
parts. Crop failures were frequent and so
were the famines. Describing the condition of Kutchi farmers, the All Kutch
Traders Associations president, Dungarshi Dharmashi Sampat, wrote in 1935:
Kutchi farmer is very poor. He is quite
oppressed under moneylenders clutches
Every farmer is debt ridden. His lands are
mortgaged to the moneylenders. They work

Economic and Political Weekly

November 30, 2002

Figure 2: Decline in Water Table (1980-1992)

very hard but still the debt continues for

generations. They live on moneylenders
mercy. There is no end to his agonyKutchi
farmers are ruined. It does not rain enough
and the land does not grow enough.

Kutchi merchants travelled far and wide

to the Red Sea, Persian Gulf, the ports of
the west Asia and many parts of Africa.
Bullion, dates, grain, timber, rhinoceros
hides, spices, elephant tusks, silks and
drugs were brought from Malabar, Mocha,
Muscat and Africa and on the return journey merchants carried cotton, cloth, oil,
butter and alum of Kutch. For every Kutchi
who habitually lives and works inside
Kutch, there is another Kutchi who habitually lives and works outside, whether in
Mumbai, Kolkata, East Africa, Aden, the
Persian Gulf, Europe or the US [Rushbrook
1958]. Venturing out for business and work
to foreign lands is thus a tradition for
enterprising Kutchi merchants. At present,
as against nearly 12 lakh native Kutchis
in Kutch, more than 19 lakh Kutchis live
outside Kutch, many of them in Mumbai.
Droughts have been very common and
have had a severe impact on agriculture
and all other economic activities. Of the
early famines, not much is recorded and
known except the great famine of 1577,
but just in the latter half of the 18th century
there were seven famines followed by
several scarcity years and a few famines
throughout the 19th century. Available
records from 1631 to 1988 bring out a very
grim picture of the past. In these 357 years,
there have been 45 bad years. There were
11 famines and several drought and scarcity years. Scarcity, drought and famines
forced people to migrate to neighbouring
Sindh en masse along with their livestock.
The population was never stable as is
evident from the records of out-migration.
Recorded figures in the gazetteer show
that in a span of just 13 years, from 1862
to 1875, more than 2 lakh people and
thousands of livestock had migrated out
of Kutch, whereas only 41,000 people
returned.3 Earthquakes were another natural calamity frequently faced by Kutchis.
In a span of 111 years from 1845 to 1946
66 slight to moderate earthquakes, five
severe and two very severe earthquakes
had struck Kutch.4
The low population density was another
way to survive in resource-scarce natural
conditions. Settlements were small and
scattered. This reduced the relative resource requirements, particularly water, at
one location. This is reflected in the present
settlement pattern. The present population

Economic and Political Weekly

GREATER RANN OF KUTCH

KHADEER

BANNI
LAKHPAT
RAPAR

NAKATRANA
ABDASA

BHACHAU

BHUJ

LITTLE RANN
A

IA

ANJAR
N

MANDVI

MUNDRA

Area where water table declined by 10 to 25 m

between May 1980 and May 1992.
40 per cent of mainland is affected by this overdrafting,
covering an area of 8,000 sq km.

10

0 10

20

40 KM

Source: Patel, P P (1995).

density on the Kutch mainland is merely

56 persons per sq km as against 210 for
the entire state.

II
Traditional Drinking Water
Systems and Present Status
Despite such unfavourable natural conditions, the history of human habitation in
Kutch goes back several thousand years.
Evidence from pre-historic times found in
Kutch and surrounding regions shows that
a predominantly pastoralist lifestyle existed in these regions around 12,000 years
ago [Vaidya 1995, Goswami 1992]. In the
archaeological excavations at Dholavira,5
a well-developed underground channel
network is found, a unique feature of all
the Harappan sites [Vasa 1995].
How did people manage water in the
recent past, particularly before independence, and what is their present status?
Most of the late 19th and early 20th century

accounts repeatedly mention that water

from the Kutch streams was unfit to drink
(for humans) and was too saline even for
cattle during the summer. Livestock survived on saline water during summer. Due
to the absence of a perennial river, people
learnt to survive by developing various
methods to harness the scarce rainwater
[Campbell 1880]. James MacMurdo wrote
in 1818 about the rivers of Kutch:
I do not think that there is any perennial
river in this regionMany of them dry up
by the end of monsoonOf what I have
seen and heard there are two-three big
rivers which meet the sea near Mundra and
Mandvi and even in April water flows in
themGood water is found by digging the
sand up to 12 to 15 inches in the riverbed.

These shallow pits in the riverbed are

called virdas, the simplest and probably
the earliest method to find water. Virdas
tap the rainwater stored under the surfacelevel sand by digging in the dry riverbed.
Depending upon the local soil conditions,

Table 1: Traditional Sources of Domestic Water in Kutch

Details
Villages having respective traditional sources
(out of 100 surveyed villages)
Sources surveyed under each category
Built by
Donors or rulers
Village community
Government
Built when
In past 15 years
In past 16 to 45 years
More than 45 years
Water availability when surveyed
Water availability throughout the year during
a normal rain year

Virdas

Wells

Vavs

Talavs

23
69
0
69
0
30

72
140
57
53
30
15
10
94
77

9
9
9
0
0
0
0
9
2

87
145
76
43
26
23
13
109
43

70

44

Source: Compiled by the authors based on a survey of 100 villages carried out by them and others in
January 1997.

November 30, 2002

4861

topography and water needs, people have

evolved different types of virda. In many
villages virdas are still an important source
of water. In some villages, people prefer
this water to piped water for drinking, as
they find virda water sweeter in taste. Of
the 100 villages surveyed in 1997, 23 used
virda water.
Besides virdas, the most commonly used
traditional sources of water are wells, talav
(reservoirs storing rainwater) and tanks.
The earliest evidence of wells in Kutch is
found at Dholavira. Whereas wells and
talavs may be old, big talavs were not
widespread till the 18th century and wells
remained the largest source of water. Large
talavs and tanks are generally found in
villages where the erstwhile rulers lived
or which were centres of fiefdoms of
bhayyads 6 like Kothara, Gadhsisa,
Gadhwala Wala, Lakhpat, Anjar and Bhuj.
As is evident from Table 1, out of 100
villages, 87 villages have talavs, many of
them more than one.
The famous Hamirsar tank in Bhuj is an
example of fine craftsmanship and great
imagination to bring water through a
kilometre-long channel from the Lakhi hill
ranges. Seeing the potential of converting
a small pond into a major source of water
for this newly founded capital of Kutch,
it was converted into a tank in 1549. Since
then successive rulers made their contributions to Hamirsar either by extending
the original structure or by undertaking
repair and maintenance, particularly through
relief works during scarcity. Hamirsar, with
its total capacity of more than 3,000 million
litres, was the main source of water for
Bhuj and met its water needs even during
the most difficult times. It also used to
recharge many wells on its periphery. This
monumental effort of the Maharajas and
common people who laboured to make
Hamirsar today stands neglected.
Wells were made in the talavs for drinking water to avoid evaporation losses. This
has advantages of both systems. Talav
water recharges the water table of the wells
and to that extent evaporation losses are
reduced. The wells provide cleaner and
more quantities of water even during
scarcity years. Sometimes, separate but
interconnected talavs were made for drinking, washing and general purpose use.
In a few places in Kutch, selar vavs
(stepped wells) were an important traditional source of water. A vav is a deep well
having a stepped access from the ground
to the well with several landings. Besides
being a well, these are also great works

4862

Figure 3: Deterioration in Quality

GREATER RANN OF KUTCH

KHADEERT

BANNI

LAKHPAT

RAPAR
NAKHATRANA
ABDASA

BHACHAU
LITTLE RANN

BHUJ
AR

AB

ANJAR
IA

SE

MANDVI
MUNDRA

TDS more than 1,000 mg/l

Fluoride more than 1.5 mg/l
Nitrate more than 45 mg/l

GU

OF
LF

KU

TC

10

10

30

KM

Total area having unpotable groundwater is 14,500 sq km,

75 per cent of mainland Kutch

Source: Patel, P P (1995).

of architecture. Generally built by the royal

or influential families, vavs have never
been the common peoples source of water.
Today, vavs are the most unused and
neglected traditional source.
As evident from Table 1, most of the
traditional sources were built before
Indian rule came into existence and were
built either by the rulers, donors or the communities. As for maintenance and ownership, there were different arrangements
and some of them continue even now.
Simple virdas have no individual ownership and can be dug and used by anyone.
Pastoralists, traders and travellers used
them during their journey. Such virdas are
a primary source of water for the poor and
lower caste people in many villages who
have no access to other sources. Virdas of
a more permanent nature are still found in
pastoral villages. They are owned and
maintained by the families who construct
them. These are not strictly private but
more of community approved ownership
based on mutual understanding. When one
familys virda dries up, they can access
others virdas for their drinking water needs.
For livestock, they find other alternatives
like far-off talavs or even resort to migration. Drinking water has been the first
priority for them and is still met unconditionally in these villages.
In villages where the social hierarchy
was strong, different socio-economic communities participated in different ways in
the process of decision-making, implementing and maintaining the resources.
The decision of making a well or talav was

taken by influential people within the

village; financial resources came from wellto-do families, temple trusts, donors or the
local rulers and the labour from the local
poor people. Whereas talavs were generally of village or state ownership, wells
may have private, community or village
ownership. This structure of ownership is
evident even today in many villages.
A major opportunity for carrying out and
maintaining water works at the state level
were the drought relief works, a very
common phenomenon during famines.
People were employed to carry out public
works during drought, scarcity or famine
and were paid in cash or kind. Generally
these works included making or deepening
wells or talavs, making roads or palatial
structures. The earliest recorded mention
of such relief works is in 1813, when relief
work was offered on Deshalpar lake in
Bhuj on a daily wage of four-fifths of a
pound (363.13 gm) of grain. Other mentions of relief works are in 1825, when a
large number of wells was dug all over
Kutch, and Hamirsar in Bhuj was deepened [Campbell 1880].
Table 2: Changing Cropping Pattern
(1958-1992)
Crop

Area (in Acres)

1958
1992-93

Bajri
3,60,000
Jowar
1,74,000
Pulses
2,00,000
Cotton
20,000
Groundnut
7,000

2,90,000
3,50,000
2,77,500
1,37,500
2,15,000

Change
(in Per Cent)
-20
+ 100
+ 38
+ 587
+ 2970

Source: Figures for 1958 from Rushbrook (1958)

and for 1996 from GUIDE (1996).

Economic and Political Weekly

November 30, 2002

In 1877, the Tuna-Anjar road was laid

and several wells and ponds were dug.
Ever since, drought relief works have
become a regular source of sustenance for
the rural poor population. With much
politicisation of the water issue in Kutch,
the drought relief works budget increases
every year and though the context has
changed considerably since the early 19th
century, similar works of road building
and talav making are carried on, although
with much less vision and planning.
The study of various traditional systems
sharply brings out the fact that different
systems existed in different parts of Kutch
based on regions, communities, needs and
use patterns. Though traditional systems
are still in use in many parts of Kutch, there
is a visible decline in their reliability, use
and maintenance. Why are traditional systems
not being used as in the past, despite the
continuing drinking water problem? We
will try to explore and explain some of
these issues in the following sections.
The process of modernisation and
centralisation was carried out with great
zeal by the Indian state. While the
colonialists had shown considerable interest in learning from traditional Indian
irrigation systems, the builders of modern
India knew little about them and paid no
attention to their development potential.
Hence, there were never any policies made
to understand and further improve them
be it education, health, natural resource
management, irrigation or drinking water.
Thus there are no policies even to consider
the traditional water systems at least as a
potential supplementary source. At the
micro level, there are several inter-linked
factors, which are direct or indirect results
of the macro process, changing times and
preferences. Manifestations of these factors are often blamed as the causes of their
decline.

III
Post-Independence
Development of Water
Resources
The intervention of the Indian state in
regional development began soon after the
independence. One of the top-most priorities of the Indian government was to attain
food self-sufficiency, and traditional
methods of rainfed agriculture were considered inadequate. To meet new requirements, efforts were mounted on a war
footing to develop surface water potential
by building large dams and groundwater

Economic and Political Weekly

Figure 4: Sea Ingression (1985-1995)

GREATER RANN OF KUTCH

KHADEER
BANNI
RAPAR

LAKHPAT
NAKHATRANA
BHACHAU
BHUJ
ABDASA
MANDVI

ANJAR
MUNDRA

TDS above 4,000 PPM in 1985

TDS above 4,000 ppm in 1995

10

10

30

KM

Source: GUIDE (1996).

potential by finding newer technologies to

extract water from deeper aquifers. Major
rivers like Khari, Saakra, Nana, Mithi,
Bhukhi, Mittiyari, Kanakawati, Suvai, and
Nagmati were dammed to tap the surface
water potential for irrigation. As a result,
there are 20 medium and 162 minor irrigation schemes. The actual irrigation
potential of these schemes is about 52,800
hectares (ha) but actual potential realised
is less than 15,000 ha, less than 28 per cent
of the planned potential. Irrigation cost
from surface water sources at the actual
irrigation level comes to Rs 18,000 per ha
against its planned cost of Rs 6,000 per
hectare [GUIDE 1996].
To prevent large-scale productivity losses
during calamities, public health became
one of the major concerns of the Indian
government as the high mortality and
morbidity rates were having a severe
negative impact on the nations newly
developing economy. It was found that
most of the widespread diseases were water
borne. Thus, provision of safe drinking
water was viewed as an urgent requirement. The rural drinking water supply, for
the first time, was considered the
governments responsibility. For a proper
assessment of the problem, a countrywide
survey of all villages was initiated by the
central government, which was completed
in 1964. Based on the survey, it was decided
to provide free water to no-source villages.
This marked the beginning of public water
supply in rural areas of India.
With the limited surface water potential
and its poor efficiency in Kutch, ground-

November 30, 2002

water soon became the main source of

water for all purposes. Newer technologies
were introduced to tap groundwater. Diesel
pumps could draw water much faster than
the kos (traditional water lifting device)
and were introduced in 1950. As the water
table went down with time, bores were
drilled in the dried wells and electric motors
replaced the diesel pumps. Finally, deep
tubewells with submersible pumps were
introduced to tap water from deeper aquifers. The journey from kos to tubewell was
very fast. Groundwater was tapped by all
means and from wherever possible.

Overdependence
on Groundwater
(1) For Agriculture: The traditional agriculture was food-crop-oriented since it was
more for subsistence, but in modern agriculture, cash crops have increased more
rapidly. The area under cotton has increased
by seven-fold and that under groundnut 30
times from 1958 to 1993. The comparative
increase in food crops has been much
lower, and production of bajri, the staple
diet of Kutchis, has fallen over time as
evident from Table 2.
As groundwater withdrawal became
possible, well, borewell and tubewell-based
irrigation came into existence. The process
of drilling bores and tubewells for agriculture has never stopped since then.
Official numbers of dug wells and dugcum-borewells increased from 18,000 in
1960-61 to more than 32,000 by 1993-94.
More importantly, the technology for

4863

withdrawing water catalysed a much faster

depletion of groundwater. There are 219
government tubewells exclusively for irrigation, several private wells and
tubewells. The number of electrical motors and engines increased from a mere
7,000 to a whopping 24,000 during the
same period [GUIDE 1996]. The actual
number of bores and electric motors may
be much higher as many of them operate
illegally. There is evidence that a large
number of farmers owning bores sell
groundwater to other farmers, which never
gets accounted for. Since electricity supply is uncertain, water is pumped out and
stored in farm ponds, even if it is not
required for irrigation. This too causes
large-scale wastage and evaporation losses.
Total irrigated area in Kutch is more than
one lakh ha and 90 per cent of the irrigation
is done by groundwater. The availability
of groundwater for irrigation brought
benefits to the farmers, especially big
farmers. Farming in the water-rich zones
gradually became a profitable occupation.
Many rich Kutchis staying abroad or in
Mumbai began investing in agricultural
lands. Today many wadis of Vidi-Nagalpar,
Bhuj, Nakhtrana and Mandvi are owned
by Kutchis staying outside. Like many
other places, the flood irrigation method
of watering the crops is practised very
wastefully in the belief that more water
given to crops will increase the yield.
Wastage assumes serious proportions in
Kutch because the water retention capacity
of soils is low and the crops require irrigation every 3-7 days unlike in good soils
where it is done after 15-20 days. The
groundnut crop, which requires 6-8 irrigations in other parts of Gujarat, requires
18-30 irrigations in Kutch [Raju 1992].
Crops requiring intensive irrigation have
increased over time.
(2) Rural and Urban Water Supply: Public
water supply in rural Kutch is a threedecade-old programmes. In most parts of
Kutch, hand pumps and simple wells were
technically not feasible and thus piped
water supply was introduced, known as
individual water supply scheme (IWSS) or
regional water supply scheme (RWSS).7
Upgrading, improving or maintaining the
traditional systems never was seen as a
method to meet the drinking water requirements at the village or small-town level.
In Kutch, 787 out of 948 villages are no
source. Of the total no-source villages,
598 are covered under 113 RWSS and 126
under IWSS. These schemes are designed
to provide 70 litres per capita per day

4864

(LPCD). Initial investment varies from

Rs 2.5 lakh to Rs 10 lakh per village with
an average of Rs 5 lakh per village. Total
investment on RWSS has been more than
Rs 39 crore.8 The main source of water
for all these schemes is groundwater. The
111 RWSS draw water from 88 deep
tubewells and 44 wells. The public water
supply network in rural areas is more than
4,000 km long, two-and-a-half times the
total length of the Gujarat coastline, one
of the largest in the country. When piped
water supply fails, villages are supplied
water through tankers. More than 60 per
cent villages under these schemes face
severe irregularities in water supply. The
reasons are many, including inefficient
management, far-off sources of water, long
network, rapidly declining water levels,
and deteriorating quality. Tankers provide
14 LPCD, only 20 per cent of the piped
water supply standard. In the winter of
1997, 216 villages were supplied water
through tankers. The budget for tanker
supply has been growing every year. Provision for the tanker water supply during
1996-97 alone was Rs 303 lakh.
The story of urban water supply is also
similar. Large water tanks like Hamirsar
and Deshalsar of Bhuj, Sidhsar tank of
Anjar, built by the erstwhile rulers, which
could have served partial requirement of
water in urban areas, have been rendered
useless. Thus all of the towns now depend
upon the same source, groundwater. Even
after exploiting groundwater to its utmost
the urban areas too face severe water
problems.
Bhuj municipality has nine tubewells in
nearby villages, and most parts of Bhuj get
water every alternate day. Mandvi has four
tubewells of which two have become saline
so the water of the sweet and saline
tubewells is mixed to achieve the lowest
potable quality. Mundra and Rapar also
face severe water shortage. In 1995, Bhuj
municipality was able to supply only 8.4
MLD (million litres per day) against a
demand of 12 MLD, Rapar was getting
only 0.54 MLD against its requirement of
1.15 MLD. The only urban centre whose
supply is not much affected is the urbanindustrial centre of great national significance, the Kandla Gandhidham Complex
(KGC). Of all the urban centres of Kutch,
KGC gets highest priority in having access
to water. Daily water supply to KGC is
25.16 MLD and is met by more than 45
tubewells spread over six far-off locations.
KGC is one of the largest consumers of
domestic water and takes a large share of

about 35 per cent of total potable groundwater in Kutch. Supply to this complex is
only marginally affected even in the worst
drought years.
(3) For Industrial Projects: Industrialisation has never played a significant role
in Kutchs economy. In 1994, Kutch had
2,764 registered small-scale industrial units
out of a total of over 1.6 lakh units in
Gujarat. Unfortunately, most of the existing
industries too depend upon groundwater.
Modern, highly capital-intensive, highly
mechanised and highly water-intensive
industries are planned to cover many parts
of Kutch, in the wake of liberalisation, on
an unprecedented scale. The proposed
projects include many large cement plants,
chemicals, thermal power plants and caustic soda plants. The water requirements of
these projects are extremely high. The
technology mission on rural water supply
estimated the industrial water requirements
in Kutch to increase from 6.39 MLD to
32 MLD by 2003.9 Most of these projects
are to be commissioned in areas facing
severe water scarcity, like Lakhpat, Abdasa
and Bhachau.

IV
Impacts of Groundwater
Overextraction
Be it agriculture, urban areas, rural water
supply schemes or industries, all are primarily dependent on groundwater in Kutch.
The over-extraction of groundwater has
led to a rapid depletion of the water table
Table3: Changing Groundwater
Status in Kutch
Taluka

Groundwater Status
1984
1991

Mandvi
Nakhtrana
Bhuj
Bhachau
Lakhpat
Anjar
Rapar
Mundra
Abdasa

White
White
White
White
White
White
White
White
White

Dark
Grey
White
OE
White
OE
Grey
Grey
Grey

Notes:

These categories are based on the

groundwater withdrawal as per cent of
recharge.
White: Withdrawal less than 65 per cent of
recharge.
Grey: Withdrawal between 65-85 per cent
per cent of recharge.
Dark: Withdrawal between 85-100 per cent
of recharge.
Over-Exploited (OE): Withdrawal more
than recharge.
Source: Central Groundwater Board, Ministry of
Water Resources, 1991.
Report of Committee on Estimation of
Groundwater Potential, 1991.

Economic and Political Weekly

November 30, 2002

and sharp deterioration in the quality of

water across the district. As evident from
Table 3, from 1984 to 1991, seven out of
nine talukas moved to higher and unsustainable extraction categories. Two talukas,
Anjar and Bhachau, came under the overexploited category; Mandvi advanced into
the dark zone whereas Nakhatrana, Rapar,
Mundra and Abdasa came under the grey
category. In reality, the water level status
may be deteriorating further as due to
lacunae in methodology the utilisable
groundwater is generally overstated and
the net draft is understated [Raju 1992].
Over-extraction of groundwater has led to
multifarious impacts both on the quantity
and quality of groundwater resources at
the regional level.

Quantity-related Impacts
In large parts of Kutch, the water table
has declined by 30 to 60 feet during the
period from 1985 to 1995 [GUIDE 1996].
A survey of 100 villages during the study
revealed that the rate of decline is 8-10 feet
annually in most places. Farmers now
needed 30 to 50 hp motors instead of
10-15 hp motors a decade ago. Tubewells
supplying water to Bhuj extract water from
400 feet below ground level and are now
left with only 130 feet of usable groundwater, below which is saline water. Lowering pipes and deepening tubewells have
become a common phenomenon. When
simple wells dry up, farmers drill sayada,
a 3-4 inch thick thin horizontal drill at the
bottom of the well to tap water from a
distance. In many farms, sayadas extend
up to 200 feet horizontally, at times even
cutting across the fields.
Figure 2 shows the declining water table
due to over-extraction during 1980 to 1992.
As the water table goes down, the volume
of the groundwater declines and the output
decreases still faster. According to an
official, Mandvi municipality wells, which
used to give around 2,00,000 litres per
hour 15 years ago, now yield only around
75,000 litres per hour. Such reductions
have also been observed in many bore or
tubewell-based public water supply
schemes in rural areas.
These are not isolated cases. Scheme
after scheme is failing because of this
problem. There are many proposals with
the GWSSB to deepen and augment the
sources of various schemes due to yield
reductions. The problem of reduction in
the yield of a source gradually culminates
in its total failure and abandonment. The

Economic and Political Weekly

case of Nagalpar village located in a prolific water zone illustrates this trend.
Nagalpar, having a population of 5,000,
is located 4 km from Anjar. This is a waterrich area and has lush green fields to grow
vegetables, mangoes, dates, pomegranates,
guava and chiku. In 1972, a donor contributed money for a drinking water well.
The water table was less than 75 feet and
an electric motor was installed at the new
well. By 1977, the well went dry. In the
meantime, GWSSB drilled a tubewell there
as the village was to be covered under an
IWSS. The water level was 125 feet at the
time. Though the depth of the tubewell was
350 feet, the pipe was lowered only up to
200 feet since everyone was sure that water
in this area could never go below 200 feet.
By 1989, the water table went below 200
feet and the tubewell stopped yielding
water. In 1991, a second tubewell was
drilled up to a depth of 400 feet and this
time sand seeped in. What can be the
solution? Drill another tubewell? The third
tubewell, 450 feet deep this time, was
drilled next to those lying dry.
Several fields of this village have suffered multiple failures of their tubewells.
Incidentally, this village supplies water to
the Kandla-Gandhidham Complex for
many years from nine tubewells. Besides,
a large number of private wadi owners
supply water tankers to KandlaGandhidham. With such high extractions,
the water table is going down at the rate
of 15 feet every year.

Quality-related Problems
As the water table goes down, serious
deterioration in the quality of groundwater
comes to light. In Lakhpat-Maliya region
10,478 wells have become saline due to
sea water ingression. Groundwater in the
whole of Lakhpat, parts of Abdasa, Mandvi,
Mundra, Anjar, Bhachau and Rapar has
more than 4,000 TDS rendering it unsuitable for both drinking and irrigation. WHO
recommends 500 TDS as the highest
desirable level and 1,500 TDS as the
maximum permissible level for drinking
water. Out of 260 wells monitored by the
Gujarat Water Resource Development
Corporation, 162 wells recorded more than
2,000 TDS [GUIDE 1996].
In many areas, excess fluorides, nitrates,
iron and other minerals have also been
observed. A survey conducted by GWSSB
from 1983 to 1987, of 129 villages spread
all over Kutch, shawed that around 12 per
cent of the surveyed villages (15) were

November 30, 2002

affected by high content of fluorides

varying between 1.6 and 6 mg/litre against
permissible limits of 0.5 to 1 mg/litre. The
worst affected areas are the coastal villages. The combined impact of increasing
salinity, fluorides and nitrates is shown in
Figure 3. Another problem is also of excess
iron. Iron makes the water look red in colour.
People of iron-affected villages use water
after leaving it in containers for 2-3 days
to allow the red sediments to settle. Excess
iron corrodes the pipes and tanks and at
times leads to failure of tubewells.
A government survey of 245 villages in
the coastal belt from Malia to Lakhpat,
covering a population of 2.5 lakh people
shows that an area of 15,500 ha, including
sizeable cultivable lands, has become saline
[Raju 1992]. More than 50 farmers abandoned their fields in the coastal village of
Maska as the soil became saline leaving
it uncultivable due to repeated irrigation
with saline water. Irrigation with saline
water gradually turns the land saline and
reduces its productivity. A local pesticide
distributor told us that in the coastal belt
groundnut cultivation had fallen by 75 per
cent in just a decade and was replaced by
cotton, a more salinity resistant crop. These
are by no means isolated incidents. Recent
data from GWRDC have brought out the
extent of salinity ingression as shown in
Figure 4.
The overall financial impact of the
salination process is alarming. A study by
the department of agriculture, Gujarat,
shows that the cropped area before sea
ingression in Malia-Lakhpat belt was
11,812 ha bringing an annual income of
Rs 605.59 lakh to farmers. This area has
reduced to 7,705 ha reducing income to
Rs 240.45 lakh, an annual loss of Rs 365.24
lakh [Raju 1992]. The government of
Gujarat has prepared a comprehensive
coastal salinity prevention and treatment
plan for Kutch envisaging an investment
of Rs 186 crore. Ironically, this amount is
56 per cent of the total financial allocation
of GWSSB for the whole state of Gujarat
for the Eighth Five-Year Plan, which is Rs
330 crore.10

V
Summing Up
With a specific combination of geology,
climate and topography, there are structural constraints in the usable water in
Kutch. The lands are more suitable for
grasslands than agriculture. The pre-independence economy of Kutch evolved

4865

within these natural limitations of land and

water resources. Good grasslands and a
long coastline gave rise to a pastoral
economy and maritime trade. Agriculture
was poor and was never a widely practised
occupation due to low productivity of land,
low rainfall and poor availability of water.
Scarcity, drought and famines forced people
to migrate to neighbouring Sindh.
Geological and groundwater surveys
since 1950 clearly brought out the natural
limits of usable water in Kutch. However,
more rational and sustainable regional
development policies or the regulation of
water use did not become a serious concern
for the state.
After Kutch became part of the new
Indian state, there was a sudden departure
from a historically evolved socio-economic
set-up. The decentralised sea-trade of earlier
times was all centralised at Kandla port.
No efforts were made to further develop
traditional low water-consuming occupations like pastoralism and handicrafts.
Instead, water-intensive modern agriculture was promoted in ecologically fragile
Kutch too.
Newer water extraction technologies
entered the quiet villages of Kutch on a
large scale. Diesel engines, electrical motors
and submersible pumps replaced the traditional kos; virdas, wells and talavs were
gradually replaced by tubewell-based
modern piped water supply systems. A small
tubewell zone became the primary source of
water for all water users, agriculture, rural
and urban areas and industries. Drinking
water never became a serious concern and
was eventually sacrificed for other uses.
This over-dependence on groundwater
has exploited the resource much beyond
its rechargeable limits. This has resulted
in severe deterioration in the quantity and
quality of water. Over-extraction along
coastal areas has resulted in seawater
ingression into the inland fresh-water
aquifers making them saline. Irrigation
with saline water has led to large-scale
salination of agricultural lands. In the
process, the soils began losing productivity and water extraction became more
expensive making agriculture unviable. The
livestock-based pastoral economy that
flourished at one time is in a shambles now
as the fodder and water resources are
shrinking.
Advanced understanding of geo-hydrology, ecology and agriculture and development of newer water-extraction technologies should have facilitated the process of
overcoming the natural water scarcity and

4866

drinking water needs could have been met

on a priority basis. However, unregulated
and unsustainable groundwater exploitation and an inappropriate development
approach converted the natural scarcity
into a severe water crisis. -29
Address for correspondence:
charulvinay@vsnl.net

Notes
[This paper is based on a detailed study carried
out by the authors in 1996-97. The fieldwork and
survey of 100 villages, mentioned at various places
in the paper, was carried out in January 1997. All
the drawings are prepared by Charul Bharwada
from various sources.]
1 Kutch never became part of the Indian Customs
Union (ICU) hence Kutchi goods entering any
Indian port under the British Dominion were
taxed heavily, which made them very expensive
and thus uncompetitive. Heavy penalties were
levied upon the Maharao under the pretext that
he was not able to control piracy by Wagad
dacoits in Saurashtra, large parts of which
were under the ICU. Steamships coming to
Kutchi ports were also often harassed and
obstructed. Due to all this Kutchi trade and
economy suffered heavily.
2 As per 1991 census.
3 From the Administrative Summary given in
the Gazetteer by, Campbell, J M (1880),
Gazetteer of the Bombay Presidency, Vol V:
Kutch, Palanpur and Mahi Kantha, Bombay.
4 Analysis based on the report by C C Patel and
Associates (1988).
5 Dholavira is a major archaeological excavation
site of the Indus Valley civilisation located in
the north-west end of Khadeer island in the
Great Rann of Kutch.
6 Bhayyads were the family members, kith
and kin of the Kutch Maharao who were ruling
small dominions on behalf of the Maharao.
Nearly half of the Kutch lands were under
Bhaayad rule.
7 RWSS are for a group of villages. In Kutch,

the number of villages in such schemes varies

from 2 to 45.
8 As the schemes were executed at different
times and by different governments, a cumulative official figure was not available. This
has been calculated based on the analysis of
official information of 113 RWSS. The average
initial investment comes to Rs 5.04 lakh per
village. Thus for 780 villages the investment
comes to more than Rs 39 crore for RWSS alone.
9 Technology Mission on Rural Water Supply,
(1988).
10 Gujarat Water Supply and Sewerage Board,
Eighth Five-Year Plan, 3rd Revision.

References
Campbell, J M (1980): Gazzetteer of the Bombay
Presidency, Vol V: Kutch, Palanpur and Mahi
Kantha, Bombay.
Gala, Manilal (ed) (1989): Prarambhik Kshitijo:
Ognisvin Sadi Darmyan Kutch Ma Gnan
Sanshodhan, Rachna Prakashan, Ahmedabad.
Goswami, Rajratna (1992): Kutch Sanskruti:
Samasyao Ane Samadhan, Junagadh.
GUIDE (1996): Process of Desertification in
Kachchh And Banaskantha Districts of
Gujarat, India (1961-1991), Bhuj (Kachchh),
Gujarat Institute of Desert Ecology.
Patel, C C and Associates (1988): Report of the
Technology Mission On Rural Water Supply
and Related Water Management, Mini Mission:
Kachchh (Gujarat), New Delhi.
Patel, P P (1996): Kutch Ni Jal Samasya: Swaroop,
Kaaran Ane Nivaran, Kutch Taari Asmita,
Kutch Mitra, Bhuj.
Raju, K C B (1992): Status of Groundwater
Resources: Kutch District Gujarat, paper
presented at a seminar on Kutchs water problems and their solution, Gandhidham, March.
Sampat, Dungarshi Dharamshi (1935): Kutch Nun
Vepari Tantra, Karachi.
Thakkar, Mahesh and Shashikant Thakkar (1988):
Sindhu Waters and Kutch, Bhuj.
Vaidya, Dilip (1996): Puratatva Ni PrayogshalaKutch, Kutch Taari Asmita, Kutch Mitra,
Bhuj.
Vasa, Pulin (1996): Dholavira:Sindhu (Harrapiya)
Sanskruti Ni Vishisht Vasahat, Kutch Taari
Asmita, Kutch Mitra, Bhuj.

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Economic and Political Weekly

November 30, 2002