When the Gujarat governmen argued its case before the Narmadi Waters Dispute Tribunal, it pleadec for more than its proportionately fail share of water because it desperately needed waterto irrigate 11.3 lakhhect ares of arid land in Kutch'. The tribunal allotted 9 MAF (mil- lion acre feet) of water, leaving it en- tirely to the government to decide hov it should be sub-allocated to differen areas of the state. Gujarat governmer drastically reduced the allocation t irrigate less than one lakh hectare which comes to hardly 1.6 per cent the cultivable area of Kutch. Now it talks of alternatives like watershed management, rainwater harvesting and well-recharging.

Of late, the people of Kutch have begun to recognise government propaganda for what it is. The Mumbai-based Kutch Development Forum is demanding a total review of the Narmada waters allocation and fair distribution of over- flow water from the river. Another people's organisation has filed acase against the Nigam, de- manding more water for irrigation by a high bank gravity flow canal, which will exclusively serve Kutch. Others realise that the solution lies not with the government but with themselves. Voluntary agencies like the Vivekananda Research and Training Institute are doing path-breakingwork in the field of water harvesting and groundwater recharging.