Bhuj, Jul 7 (IANS): The residents of Mod Kuba vilage under the Mandavi taluka in Gujarat's Kutch district were pleasantly surprised on Wednesday when water from the Narmada river reached their area.

However, the happniess did not even last for 24 hours as a slab of the canal broke on Thursday, leading to disruption in water supply in the village. The water gushed out in all the surrounding farms. Many nearby villages faced water-logging after the slab of the canal broke.

The locals accused the state government of corruption in the construction of the canal, as the project was going on since 2017 and yet they did not not receive water.

However, Kutch MLA Virendresinh Jadeja said that the water reached the villages as part of a trial.

"Contractors conduct trials so that they can repair all the faults. A slab fell after the trial. But after five years of construction, it is the contractor's duty to maintain the canal... It's not the government's fault. This happened in the morning, and I guess it has been repaired by now," Jadeja said.

An official on condition of anonymity said that the trial of the project has been started. "The glitches will be restored in a few days and then again the water supply will be normal," he added.

Earlier on Wednesday, Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel had tweeted, "Water of Narmada river reaches Kutch. This was a dream project of PM Narendra Modi, and his efforts and inspiration made this possible. This project was started in 2017 so that water could reach the agricultural and industrial areas of Kutch."