Berhampur (Odisha): BJP MP from Odisha, Pradeep Kumar Panigrahy, wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, urging him to take steps for speedy implementation of the proposed linkage of the Rushikulya river to Mahanadi river.
Panigrahy, the MP from the Berhampur constituency, said the linkage of the two rivers will not only create irrigation potential in Ganjam, Nayagarh and Khurda districts but also mitigate the drinking water problem in these areas, particularly in the Berhampur Municipal Corporation (BeMC).
Describing the 165-km-long Rushikulya river as the lifeline of the people of Ganjam, he said residents of the district are dependent on the river and its tributaries for drinking water, irrigation and other activities.
The river, which flows through Ganjam district, remains dry for six to seven months.
The MP said the linkage of the two rivers was a long-standing demand of the people of Ganjam and recalled former deputy speaker of the state Assembly and senior BJP leader Ram Chandra Panda had suggested the project to former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.
Panda had launched a week-long ‘Jala Sanjog Yatra’ in 2010 from Kasinagar in Gajapati district to Bhubaneswar, demanding the linkage of the rivers by constructing a dam at Daspalla in Nayagarh district.
Panda Tuesday said Vajpayee had assured him to consider the proposal.
The National Water Development Agency (NWDA) had reportedly prepared a report on the linkage of these two rivers. But the project has not made much progress so far, he said.
“We had suggested the linkage of the rivers Mahanadi and Rushikulya under the water linkage project. The surplus water of Mahanadi will be diverted to Rushikulya by constructing a separate barrage” said Panda.
“We hope the Prime Minister will consider the MP’s proposal, a long-standing demand of the people of Ganjam, sympathetically,” said the former deputy speaker.
PTI