GANDHINAGAR: Ahead of crucial assembly elections in Gujarat, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate the ambitious Astol project on June 10, which aims to provide water to 174 villages in the Valsad district, during his one day visit to the state.
The Gujarat government in a statement said, “The Prime Minister will dedicate several big projects to the people of Gujarat during his visit to the state on June 10.”
It said that during his one-day visit, Modi will inaugurate the Astol project that will ensure tap water to 4.50 lakh people residing in 174 tribal villages and 1,028 hamlets on the hills of Valsad district.
Giving details of the project, Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel said, “It was a challenging task to complete the Astol project in Kaprada and Dharampur talukas of Valsad district, but I am glad our engineers overcame all the hurdles.”
Patel said, “It’s a technological marvel from the engineering perspective as well. Through this project, we have ensured the availability of water in these hilly areas by taking water to the height of about 200-storey building (1,875 ft).”
According to the state government, the topography of the tribal areas of Dharampur and Kaprada is such that neither the retention of rainwater is possible nor the groundwater can be stored.
In 2018, the state government initiated the Astol Project at the cost of Rs 586.16 crore to ensure a potable water supply to the people living in these hilly areas.
The government said that the water from Madhuban Dam will be pumped through pumping stations using the lift technique to reach people’s homes.
“Under this project, 28 pumping stations with a capacity of 8-Megawatt Volt Ampere (MVA) have been set up which will help supply about 75 million litres of drinking water daily to 4.50 lakh people,” the government said.
The Gujarat government laid 81 km of pumping lines, 855 km of distribution lines and 340 km of pipelines to bring water to big and small settlements.
It also established two filter plants, each with a capacity of 33 million litres of water per day, for the availability of pure drinking water with a total capacity of 66 million litres of water per day.
The government said that six high tanks with a capacity of 4.7 million litres, 28 underground tanks with a capacity of 7.7 crore litres and 1,202 tanks with a capacity of 44 million litres at the ground level in villages and habitations have been constructed to store the water.
The government said that the special technology has been used as pipes were installed according to the topography, with some areas at a higher elevation and others at low elevation.
The government said that the Astol project is nothing short of an “engineering marvel” as water from Madhuban Dam will be lifted to the height of about 200 storeys to reach 50 villages of Dharampur and 124 villages of Kaprada.
“This will be the first time that the Madhuban Dam’s water will be used for drinking purposes as earlier it has been only used for irrigation purposes,” it added.
The crucial assembly elections in the state are scheduled later this year. The BJP government is focusing on retaining power in the state. It has remained undefeated in the state since 1995.