Gujarat Govt asks cops to save water

Calling for "judicious use of water" in general, the advisory, issued recently, also lists several specific steps to be taken to stop wastage of water in the form of overflowing from overhead tanks at police stations, offices of senior officers as well as at all the police staff quarters across the state. Gujarat is staring at a water crisis due to plummeting water levels at the SSD on the Narmada river and in the catchment areas of upstream dams in neighbouring Madhya Pradesh that received scanty rainfall in 2017.

As a result, Gujarat would get only 4.71 Million Acre Feet (MAF) water from dams on the Narmada river this year, 45 per cent of the sanctioned share of 9 MAF.

As per the advisory, senior officials, such as Range IGs and District Superintendents of Police (DSPs) need to check as well as repair any leakage in pipelines or storage tanks at police stations, offices and staff quarters under their jurisdiction.

The advisory asks officials to "monitor the filling of water in overhead tanks at police stations and staff quarters to avoid overflowing".

As several police stations as well as jails have their gardens, officials have been asked to install sprinklers or drip irrigation system to save water.

The advisory also cautioned against excessive use of water in washing police vehicles and asked officials to make sure that drivers turn off the tap after finishing their task. Officials have been asked to implement a system to check if all taps are properly shut during holidays.

"Instead of throwing away waste water, officials need to instruct the employees to use it for water garden plants," it stated. The circular also directed offices and other premises under Home department to implement a system to store rain water. It asked the Gujarat Police Housing Corporation (GPHC) to incorporate rain water harvesting in all structures such as staff quarters or police stations that they would build in the future.