The Modi Government has suggested all the States across the country to consider adopting the Gujarat model of Statewide water supply grid to achieve potable water security in their region. The Union Ministry for Water and Sanitation has circulated a CD showing details of functioning of water supply grid which is used to transfer bulk water from Narmada and other rivers to water-scarce and water quality affected areas in Gujarat. Sources in the Ministry said that they had received the CD from Gujarat Government’s Water and Sanitation Manage-ment Organisation (WASMO) and have forwarded it to the States suggesting them to consider the project which has brought revolution in the Saurashtra and Kutch areas in Gujarat. Officials in the Gujarat Government say that State Wide Drinking Water Grid spread over 1,20,769 km supplies water to far-off places through an inter-basin bulk water transfer. It aims to serve 65 per cent of Gujarat’s population. It has made the State a water surplus from water scarce region just a few years ago, they say. Rajiv Kumar Gupta, an IAS official with Gujarat Government, in a presentation at an international conference said that under the Grid, large scale infrastructure has been created which includes 1,987 km of bulk pipelines and more than 1,15,058 km of distribution pipelines. 10,781 hydraulic structures like elevated storage reservoirs with a total capacity of 1,164 million litres and 10,683 storage sumps and high ground level reservoirs with a capacity of 2,504.80 million litres have also been constructed in the State. Along with this 151 water filtration and treatment plants with a total capacity of 2,750 million litres per day (MLD) have been constructed to supply water in far off villages. He said that about 2,250 MLD of treated water is being delivered to more than 10501 villages and 127 towns in the State, ensuring safe and assured water supply to about 65 per cent of State’s population in draught prone and water quality affected areas through the water supply grid. He claimed that the revolutionary poject has became a lifeline for drinking water supply to the regions of Kutch and Saurashtra, as it remained the only source of drinking water supply in the region. The project is being showcased as a benchmark in drinking water management ensuring to meet water scarcity in the country. The Grid has made the Gujarat a water surplus State, which was once used to supply drinking water to 4,054 villages using tankers, due to water scarcity in Gujarat.