[Reader-list] Study disputes Gujarat's miracle in agriculture growth

[Rakesh Iyer]

Hi Bipin

I am completely stunned, considering that when anything good comes, Narendra
Modi's name is the first to be taken by you. It seems Gujarat was some sort
of a hell before Modi came in and performed the actions which only the Genie
could have done when Alladin rubbed the lamp.

Anyways, regarding Narmada dam project, let me state you two things which
the presenters of the paper haven't put and you can also know:

a) Firstly, Medha Patkar, in her first 10 years of activism, was not at all
asking for the dam not to be built. She was only interested in
rehabilitation in a proper way for the displaced. That, I hope you will
agree, is not a wrong thing to be done. She turned against the dam because
in those 10 years, neither the Maharashtra nor the Madhya Pradesh state
governments did anything to really rehabilitate the tribals. That the
Central Government also contributed to it was a bigger sham.

Moreover, there were alternate routes to making the dam, but this route was
particularly chosen.

b) The dam was being built mainly to provide water to the parched areas of
Gujarat like Kutch and Saurashtra, while electricity was to be generated for
Madhya Pradesh. Today, water has not reached most parts of Saurashtra and
Kutch even after so many years of this project, and as for the status of
electricity generation, the less said the better.

The water has been obtained only for regions which had planned to use it
anyways: Ahmedabad, Baroda and other urban centers which anyways have more
rainfall in a year compared to regions in Kutch and Saurashtra.

I have nothing against irrigation as such, but Sardar Sarovar Dam project
was a project which should not have been taken up. In fact, the World Bank
itself withdrew its funds to the project after realizing not even proper
assessments of water supply and irrigation based on the scheme have been
undertaken.

Now you may not trust me. What about the World Bank?

Rakesh



On Wed, Nov 10, 2010 at 7:36 PM, Bipin Trivedi <aliens at dataone.in> wrote:

>
>
> Why you are seeking answer from me for this. What I have earlier mentioned
> is Gujarat growth is healthy in agriculture and I have never mentioned that
> this turn around done by Narendra Modi only.
>
>
>
> The 2 reports, 1 from International Water management Institute, Sri Lankaand other from Institute of Resource Analysis and Policy, Hyderabad. I am
> not the authority to judge about these reports. Some expert panel can decide
> about both the report status. Gujarat govt. authority must have read this
> let us wait for their reaction. But, I can see major difference by way of
> increased in happiness of the farmers in this decade. This practical
> difference can be experience in these days while roaming in the villages of
> Gujarat compared to previous days. Also, those opposing Narmada dam must
> notice this report that narmada dam water benefited the farmers and gave
> positive results. Check dam benefits during monsoon only while narmada dam
> water benefits whole year and for ever.
>
>
>
> Thanks
>
> Bipin Trivedi
>
>
>
>
>
> *From:* Rakesh Iyer [mailto:rakesh.rnbdj at gmail.com]
> *Sent:* Wednesday, November 10, 2010 1:51 PM
> *To:* anupam chakravartty
> *Cc:* sarai list; bipin
> *Subject:* Re: [Reader-list] Study disputes Gujarat's miracle in
> agriculture growth
>
>
>
> Dear all
>
> The link for the report:
>
> http://irapindia.org/gujarat_s%20agricultural_april_2010.pdf
>
> Rakesh
>
> On Wed, Nov 10, 2010 at 11:06 AM, anupam chakravartty <c.anupam at gmail.com>
> wrote:
>
> Hi Bipin,
>
> I would like to know your views on the following news item that appeared
> this morning.
>
> Thanks
>
> "The study says that the "miracle" argument fails to take into account a
> crucial figure - fall of agricultural output by 30 per cent during two
> drought years, 1999 and 2000.
>
>
> Then, there is yet another distortion - the 9.6 per cent growth rate is on
> current prices, which means that the "figures are not corrected for
> inflation".
>
> It underlines, "The 'growth' observed in the recent past (2002 onwards) is
> nothing but a good recovery from a major dip in production occurred during
> the drought years of 1999 and 2000." The state officials are examining the
> study.
>
> The study also disputes the argument that dependence on rainfall went down
> in Gujarat due to a large number of check dams built in the state in
> 1999-2000.
>
> The highest growth, 22 per cent, during 1980-2006, was on account of milk
> production. As for crops like cotton and groundnut, "with good monsoons,
> production grew substantially with steady expansion in cropped area or
> yield
> growth", but in drought years "production suffered with shrinkage in area
> under irrigated winter crops, and sharp reduction in yield of crops sown in
> kharif, including cotton and groundnut".
>
> Read more: Study disputes Gujarat's miracle in agriculture growth - The
> Times of India<
> http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/ahmedabad/Study-disputes-Gujarats-miracle-in-agriculture-growth/articleshow/6897547.cms#ixzz14r5xAFat
> >
>
> http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/ahmedabad/Study-disputes-Gujarats-miracle-in-agriculture-growth/articleshow/6897547.cms#ixzz14r5xAFat
>
> Thanks
> Anupam
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