4 Ahmedabad talukas to get treated sewage water for irrigation

Several villages in four talukas of Ahmedabad district in Gujarat will get treated sewage water through a canal that can be used for irrigation all year long, thereby reducing dependence on the rain-fed Narmada, the state government said Saturday. The project was inaugurated on Saturday by Chief Minister Vijay Rupani.

Sewage wastewater of Ahmedabad city, treated at a plant operated by the civic body, will be carried through a canal to irrigate around 12,000 hectares of land in Daskroi, Sanand, Bavla, and Dholka talukas of Ahmedabad district, it said in a release.

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Around 400 million litres of water will be treated every day at the sewage treatment plant and released in Fatehwadi canal, ensuring farmers get water for irrigation throughout the year, it said.

At the function, Rupani said his government had set a target to treat 70 per cent of sewage water in the state's urban areas by 2022, which will be used for irrigation and other purposes.

Stressing on the need to raise the underground water level, which was falling due to overuse in many parts of the state, Rupani said his government was working earnestly on the policy of "reuse, retreat and recycle" to shed the state's tag of being a water deficit one.

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He said eight desalination plants would be set up in coastal areas to treat seawater and make it potable.