Baripada: At a time when a drought like situation is staring at farmers of Mayurbhanj district, the importance of yet to be completed 33-year-old multipurpose Subarnarekha irrigation project is being felt.
It was envisaged that the water flowing in Subarnarekha river through Galudihi barrage in Jharkhand would be checked at Haladia and Jambhira barrage in Mayurbhanj district and the same would be used to irrigate 1,09,627 hectare of land in Mayurbhanj and Balasore districts through several canals. With the help of World Bank assistance, the survey and work on the project was started way back in 1982-83.
At that time, farmers who constitute three fourth of the district’s population, looked upon the project as a savior since all other pre-independence irrigation projects more or less had become defunct. However, nothing much has happened on the new project.
After initial months, the World Bank pulled out of the project. The state government continued to work on it from its own resources. However, it has run into innumerable delays.
While the project was supposed to be completed in 2016, later June 2019 was set as the deadline to complete it. With the latest deadline missed, work is far from over. Out of 1100 kilometers of canals, only 600 kilometres have so far been constructed. That is in 33 years.
That said, the state government, NABARD and AIBP have already spent a whooping Rs 3915.3962 crore on the project.
Worse, some portions of the constructed canal keep getting damaged every now and then, and large quantities of money get spent to renovate them.
“If 600 kilometers of canal take 33 years to be built, even a primary student can figure out how long will the remaining of 500 kilometres take,” rued a local.
“Had this project become functional, there would have been no fear of drought,” local farmers observed.
Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik inaugurated this project July 13, 2013, announcing that the project would irrigate 20,000 hectares of croplands across five blocks.
According to chief engineer of the project Rabinarayan Pradhan, there is water to irrigate only 11,000 ha of Kuliana and Suliapada blocks.
Senior citizens of the district have observed that the project has all along been a source of making easy bucks for contractors, departmental officials and elected representatives.
PNN