Once rain-starved, Gujarat gets rains aplenty

Gandhinagar, July 11 (UNI) Once plagued by parched farm lands, Gujarat has been enjoying bumper agriculture produce owing to bountiful rains since the past five years.

The state administration which used to brace itself for drought, now busies itself in flood preparedness. According to a senior official in Gujarat State Disaster Management Authority, ''Till 2002, we used to prepare plans and proposals to tackle the water crises, at the onset of summer. Now, we are in a different mode: tackling excess rains and plenty of water and this is the fifth consecutive year.'' Even as the floods have now become an annual feature, the rains have led to good agriculture produce. According to state Agriculture Minister Bhupendrasinh Chudasma, ''Agriculture revenue has shot up from an annual average of Rs 9,000 crore to Rs 34,000 crore in past four years.'' UNI SD MAZ SRS PM2114