While water resources have always been limited in Kutch, acute scarcity of drinking water, high level of uncertainty and outside dependence is a rather recent phenomenon, they said, pointing out that the actual reasons for the water scarcity lie in the natural limitation of available water resources, which have been stretched beyond their sustainable capacity. Worsening the crisis, 23-odd highly water intensive industries are coming up in Kutch, they said.

Discussing the magnitude of water scarcity in the region with a select group of intellectuals at the Centre for Social Studies here on Friday, Mahajan and Bharwada, who prepared a report on the problem for the Manav Kalyan Trust, observed that though more than 75 per cent villages had been covered by the piped water supply, the problem of drinking water scarcity was increasing every year.

Technologies, according to them, are failing, wells and borewells are drying up, tubewells are becoming saline due to overextraction, and quality of drinking water is deteriorating. ``This is not happening in a village, or just in one taluka but all over Kutch,'' they said.

The search for ground water began in 1950s in Kutch and limited surface water became the main source of water for irrigation. Newer technologies were introduced to tap the ground water, they said, adding overextraction of ground water led to fast depletion of the water table across Kutch.

Alleging that the government's priority seemed to have changed in post liberalisation era, they pointed out that even though drinking water scarcity was acute in Kutch, a number of highly water intensive industries, including large cement plants, chemicals, thermal power plants and caustic soda plants, were proposed to be commissioned in areas already facing sever water problem.

Observing that large parts of Kutch were inherently saline and water at deeper level was even more saline, they said that when used for irrigation, the water turned the land also saline, reducing its productivity. Over a period, salinity resistant crops have to be introduced as was done by farmers of Mandvi who shifted from groundnut to cotton, they added.

While admitting that the current pipeline network was a social asset for rural Kutch and could be put to more efficient use, Mahajan and Bharwada suggested that surface water-based systems like talavs and tanks be revived and made more effective by clearing its catchments.

They also suggested that steps be initiated to rationalise the use pattern and increase the availability of water supply.