These two days were too short a period for even a minimum assessment of the extent of damage and devastation due to the calamity in the 16000 odd villages that happen to be located in a vast stretch of 16 districts of Gujarat, mainly in Saurashtra, Rajkot and other Northern parts of the state.

Unlike flood, cyclones or a storm which devastates without sufficient warning this, was a case of absolute indifference a criminal silence and neglected by central and state government when most of the villages we visited, we were told that this draught is an acute problem of decades, if not earlier, but at the same time, a problem which was never attended to. At the moment 20 million population are direct victims and we went to several villages like Ganesh Garh, Sowail Nagar, Madiya where more than half the village population have left from Nauscra and other parts of South Gujarat in their desperate bid for survival. Only, water tankers belonging to private parties are available at the cost Rs.700/- per tank and that is the only source of water which purchased by the people. There is no water 600 ft. below the surface for these villages. We found a number of slum and villages where there was no water continuously for 25 days and women folk were waiting till 3 a.m. at night in the hope to collect water from private tankers. The situation has been worsening since early January but no MP, MLA or minister or officers visited any area to try for a solution. We were the first political party to reach to these villages despite the fact that we were delayed. As a natural consequence the people started protesting in many places in all of which the situation was left to be tackled by high handed policemen who had resorted to indiscriminate lathicharge, mishandling, abuse of power and even took recourse to indiscriminate, uncalled for an revengeful firing in a spot called Falla near Jamnagar. However ridiculous it may sound, it remains a fact the police put Section 307 even on housewives and protesting women who were demanding water and administration never sought any apology from the people for the grave police misconduct, atrocities and the attempt to falsely implicate the common people in various police cases, in Indiranagar area where we addressed a public meeting organised by the party, the people and the suffering women narrated how police attacked their houses, shops and even guests who had come from different places in order to take avenge. They were targeted simply because of the fact that there was a demonstration. No punishment have been rewarded also on the policemen who were guilty of shooting three young persons dead on the stretch of Falla on December 17, 1999.

The situation demands for both imemdiate solution to the suffering people and long term solution and planning including completion of Sardar Sarovar Dam Project whose progress is obstructed by the ongoing litigation in the Supreme Court. At the moment government both central and state should arrange water free of cost to villagers because they are not having any cash money left as well, in absence of any job and in view of tremendous rise in the prices of kerosene oil, rice and sugar.

In absence of any political and administrative intervention the people of the affected villages are helplessly facing the situation hoping for some remedies. The reality on the other hand is that water parks are being inaugurated by chief minister Kesubhai Patel whereas the case of tackling a total indifference and even not a single all party meeting was held at Ahmedabad. All these makes it clear that no remedy have at all been planned by the government, both state and central. The all party meeting convened by prime minister was also only on 26th April, much after a demand for the same was raised by the opposition.