Residents of Nikora and Angreshwar villages, situated along the banks, cross the river on foot. Kamaal Saiyed Residents of Nikora and Angreshwar villages, situated along the banks, cross the river on foot. Kamaal Saiyed As water in Narmada recedes, people living in villages of Angreshwar and Nikora on the banks of the river in Bharuch district, cross the river on foot as boats have become redundant. A stream of men, women and children, some carrying firewood, others bags, wade through the knee-deep water of the river daily to cross to the other side to work on their farmlands. Children in their school uniforms also cross the three-and-half-km-wide river on foot, risking their lives from crocodile attacks. Instead of boat, some use bullock carts to cross the river, while others use jeeps and tractors. “Not much water has been discharged from the Sardar Sarovar Dam at Kevadia Colony. As a result of which, the water level in the river has reduced to three feet from earlier 30 feet. Children of farmers who live on the opposite side, at Kabirwad Bhatu, have to cross the river and come to our village to study, putting their lives in danger,” says Jagdish Patel, sarpanch of Nikora village which is located on the western bank of meandering Narmada. The village has a population of around 4,000 people whose main source of livelihood is agriculture. “Almost half of the villagers of Nikora have agricultural land at Kabirwad Bhatu, and when water level in the river was high, they cross it through boat. But not anymore,” Patel adds. According to the sarpanch, over 150 families of the village have moved to Kabirwad Bhatu, a huge fertile river island in the middle of Narmada, to stay on their farmland and work there. But he is worried about the crocodile attacks. “The life of villagers and children coming to school from the opposite side is in danger due to the presence of crocodile. Around three months ago, a tribal youth Mangu Vasava, a resident of our village, was killed by crocodiles. People cross the river in groups due to the fear of crocodiles. We have requested our mamlatdar to discharge water into the river so that the lives of our villagers could be saved. Incidents of villagers drowning in the river were reported earlier,” he says. The village is situated only few kilometres away from the mouth of Narmada where it falls into the Gulf of Khambhat through a 20-km-wide estuary. According to Bharuch Range Forest Officer M H Kathwadia crocodiles lay their eggs in the coastal areas, and if they find any humans nearby they attack them. In the adjacent Mangleshwar village, the receding river water has led to livelihood issues, beside salinity ingress. “Due to less water in the Narmada, fishermen are unable to catch enough fish. Our village has a population of 2,000, and out of which around 50 stay on the opposite bank at Kabirwad Bhatu,” says deputy sarpanch of Mangleshwar village Hitesh Parmar. Because of less water in the river, he says, seawater flows into the river during high tide and the water becomes salty. “There is also drinking water problem in our village, even though we live on the banks of Narmada river. We have made representations to all concerned authorities but till now nothing had been done so far. Our demand was that water should be discharged from the Sardar Sarovar Dam, so that the drinking water problems faced by people of Angreshwar, Kabirwad, Mangleshwar and Nikora can be solved,” says Parmar. For all the latest Ahmedabad News, download Indian Express App

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