Daringbadi: In a bid to make water available for irrigation, the Kandhamal district administration has launched efforts to identify water sources in the hills under this block. Farmers have welcomed the move as the administration recently made water supply available from a hill to Muchudipanka villagers in Sonepur panchayat of the block. Sources said only 10 per cent of the farmlands are irrigated in the hilly and densely forested Daringbadi block.
As a result, many farmers depend on rainwater to irrigate their crops. The hilly areas under the block have water sources but farmers fail to irrigate their farmlands due to a lack of water supply systems. Irrigation woes seriously affect the cultivation of paddy crops, pulses, oilseeds and organic crops like turmeric and gingers as well as horticulture. In this backdrop, the District Collector Amrit Ruturaj has been taking steps to augment the irrigation facilities and launched efforts to trace the water sources in the hills after he joined office in the district. He is frequently visiting the remote regions of Daringbadi block on a scooter and planning to better the irrigation facilities. He has also directed the local administration to find out water sources and take necessary steps in this regard. The matter came to the fore when Daringbadi BDO Gadadhar Patra visited the remote Kekerkebadi village in Partamaha panchayat under the block recently.
Accompanied by the officials, Patra climbed the Slaska hill in the village and took stock of the Kalangjidi water source on the hill. Officials said that the administration will make arrangements to draw water from Kalangjidi water source and supply it through pipes to Kekerkebadi village. This will help irrigate hundreds of hectares of farmlands in the area. The BDO also held discussions with block chairman Susant Kumar Patra, APO Kedar Chandra Panda, junior engineer Dhiren Sethi and the villagers on facilitating water supply to the area. Locals and voluntary outfits are assisting the officials in tracing the water sources on the hills during their visit.
Officials said that as many as 177 water sources have been identified in 25 panchayats of the block and the district administration is taking steps to make all of them functional. If all the identified water sources are made operational, agriculture and horticulture in the tribal-dominated block will get a big boost. This will also lead to growth and development of the block and people here will no more depend on other districts for vegetables.
