Odisha Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi on Wednesday presented the State’s water infrastructure and irrigation record at the departmental summit organised by the Union Ministry of Jal Shakti in New Delhi.
Addressing the meeting in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Jal Shakti Minister C.R. Patil, Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Vishnu Deo Sai, and water resources ministers and senior officials from several States, Majhi said water security and irrigation remain the State government’s highest priority because Odisha’s economy is still agriculture-led.
In the last two years, he said, water infrastructure works worth Rs 54,000 crore have been sanctioned, and irrigation facilities have been extended to 3.20 lakh hectares of farmland in a short period.
Projects completed and underway:
To strengthen water infrastructure, the State has completed 770 new check dams and nine In-Stream Storage Structure (ISS) projects, and renovated 1,312 old check dams. Also completed are one dam, one barrage, two underground pipeline distribution networks, six mega lift schemes and 32 minor irrigation projects.
Fourteen more ISS projects and six medium irrigation projects will start within the next year. Work is already moving fast on five new major and medium projects, 58 mega lift schemes and five new minor irrigation projects.
For villages and farms, the government has built 3,224 community lift irrigation schemes, 20,228 deep borewells and 8,917 solar deep borewells. Under the CHHAT scheme, 20,000 rooftop rainwater harvesting structures have been completed; under the ARUA scheme, 1,200 recharge shafts have been finished to support groundwater stability.
More than 40,000 Pani Panchayats are being strengthened to bring transparency and community control into irrigation management. Majhi noted that Odisha was earlier declared the best State in the fifth National Water Awards for these measures.
Kanupur project:
The Chief Minister specially highlighted the long-pending Kanupur project, stalled since 2003-04. He said the issues were resolved through the respectful relocation of the shrine of Maa Shalabani Ishtadevi, coordination with NHAI, and technical support from the Central Water Commission and IIT Roorkee for a plastic cut-off wall.
Dam work was completed by August 31. The canal network is to be finished within the next year and will irrigate 25,000 hectares.
Majhi said that under the guidance of the “double-engine” governments at the Centre and in the State, Odisha remains committed to better water resource management for the welfare of its people.
