Siddhpur (Gujarat), Sep 17 (IANS) Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel inaugurated the Matrushri Heeraba Sarovar, a newly built reservoir at Matrugaya Tirth in Siddhpur, dedicated to the late Heeraba Modi, mother of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on the occasion of the PM’s 75th birthday.
The project has been developed under the state’s Narmada, Water Resources, Water Supply and Kalpasar Department with support from Dholaakia Foundation’s Fuliba Trust as part of the Saraswati River rejuvenation programme.
Speaking at the inauguration, CM Patel said the reservoir was a heartfelt tribute to Heeraba, who instilled in her son the values of resilience and service to the nation. “Witnessing his mother’s struggle for water in his childhood inspired Narendra Modi, as Gujarat’s Chief Minister, to free North Gujarat and the entire state from water scarcity,” Patel remarked.
He added that PM Modi transformed water into the “touchstone of development” by connecting people’s strength with water resources through check dams, river rejuvenation, and irrigation projects that now ensure drinking and irrigation water across the state. The new reservoir will benefit over 150 hectares of land with irrigation, recharge more than 20 wells, and prevent erosion in low-lying areas near the Madhupawadiya check dam. It will also store over 450 lakh cubic feet of water, enhancing groundwater levels in the region.
Industry Minister Balvantsinh Rajput and Water Resources Minister Kunvarji Bavaliya joined the event, calling the dedication of the lake on PM Modi’s birthday a symbolic and historic moment. Rajput recalled how in 2005, then CM Modi had led the Saraswati-Sabarmati-Narmada river confluence project at Siddhpur, describing it as a “Bhagirath-like” effort that changed the water landscape of North Gujarat.
Water Supply Minister Bavaliya added that once drought-prone Gujarat had emerged as a national model in water management, thanks to steps such as drip irrigation, efficient use of Narmada waters, canal projects, farm ponds, and desilting drives under PM Modi’s leadership. The inauguration ceremony was attended by Tourism Minister Mulubhai Bera, MP Bharat Singh Dabhi, MLA Lavingji Thakor, senior officials, trustees, and a large gathering of people from Siddhpur and surrounding villages.
–IANS
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