Rajkot (Gujarat): They have witnessed their crop wither away in drought in the last four decades, but now the villagers of Saurashtra region in Gujarat are hoping to get water for cultivation from an ambitious irrigation project launched by Narendra Modi when he was Chief Minister of Gujarat in September 2012.

Prime Minister Modi is to launch the first phase of the Saurashtra Narmada Avtaran Irrigation (SAUNI) Project on August 30 in Rajkot at Aji III dam. The first phase will help around 105 villages -- covering about 47,943 hectare of land of Saurashtra region - get water.