The utter disregard exhibited by the State government in the past two decades proves the complete lack of sincerity in alleviating the economic situation of the farmers of Odisha. Handing out doles pleases the people and helps politicians but damages the interest of the farmer in the long run.
Bhubaneswar: The recent elections to important north Indian States and the dismal performance of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in those Assemblies, opened the eyes of most leaders of regional parties. All of them realised that the neglect they have meted out to the farmers of their own states will cost them dear. They have no excuses since it is they who have been lording over their states for long periods. Odisha has been no exception.
The promises made by the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) on creation of irrigation facilities in the state ahead of elections a decade ago seem to be a never ending saga.
Way back, ahead of the 2009 poll, the BJD had promised to irrigate at least 35 per cent of agricultural land in each of the 314 blocks. According to latest government data, at least 81 blocks out of the 195 irrigation deficit Blocks of Odisha are deprived of basic irrigation facilities.
That seems to be the fate of many irrigation projects planned to reach the target across the State which are yet to see the light of day. This has been inconveniencing tillers of land in the State where agriculture is the predominant livelihood.
As the 2019 elections are getting closer, the State government is coming up with schemes like Krushak Assistance for Livelihood and Income Augmentation (KALIA) to give direct cash as financial assistance to the farmers so that they will not express their anger for the failure to fulfil promises made in 2009.
Promises, however, seem to be tailored only to woo the farmers just for votes but quickly forgotten afterwards once elections are over.
Out of 314 Blocks of Odisha, 195 were found irrigation deficit of below 35 per cent till June 2005. After nearly four years, the government had promised the people of this State, in 2009, to ensure 35 per cent of cultivable land of each Block to be irrigated by 2014. However, it is yet to commence implementation of most projects to bridge the gap.
Apart from Blocks, the average irrigation potential created in eight districts is also below the 35 per cent mark as per a report of the Water Resource (WR) Department (updated up to March 2018). These districts are: Puri (11.24%), Malkangiri (19.13%), Jagatsinghpur (26.72%), Kandhamal (29.33%), Keonjhar (29.92%), Koraput (31.40%), Sundargarh (33.53%) and Nabarangpur (34.86%).
Responding to a question put up in the State Legislative Assembly (UD No 318 dated 20-11-2018), Water Resources Minister Niranjan Pujari had informed the House that Odisha’s total cultivated area was 61.80 lakh hectare, of which irrigation facilities are being provided to 40.47 lakh hectare during Kharif season and 18.69 lakh ha in Rabi season.
Pujari in response to another Assembly question (UD-428 dated 20-11-2018), said the government has executed merely 15 mega lift irrigation projects in five districts across the State. Not a single mega lift irrigation project has been undertaken in the remaining 25 districts.
Interestingly, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik was holding the Water Resource (WR) portfolio for more than one and half decades. In spite of that, the State has failed to provide minimum irrigation facilities to the farmers. The department was with Patnaik between March 6, 2000 and August 6, 2002 and again between May 18, 2004 and March 2, 2018.
Rabi Narayan Nanda was the Minister in charge of the department between August 6, 2002 and May 16, 2004 while Niranjan Pujari was given the responsibility since March 3, 2018.
Ironically, Krushnaprasad Block of Puri district has achieved Zero per cent irrigation facility, which speaks loud about the seriousness of government on creation of irrigations facilities.
Similarly, only four Blocks have achieved 100 per cent irrigation facilities. The Blocks are—Kantamal in Boudh district (120.14%), Kamakhyanagara in Dhenkanal (160.22 %), Aul in Kendrapara (117.32%) and Baripada in Mayurbhanj (117.27%).
However, a spot visit by this correspondent showed these facts are also misleading and incorrect. Hundreds of hectares of cultivable land in both Baripada and Kamakhyanagar Blocks do not benefit from government’s irrigation facilities.
In 2014, the BJD had promised that irrigation potential for additional 10 lakh hectare will be created in five years (up to March 2019). The WR Department claimed it has provided the facility to 7,86,937 hectare so far and will surpass the target in the next two months.
Some irrigation projects, approved more than a decade ago, are yet to be completed, leading to time delays and cost escalation, which are given below:
Manjore Medium Irrigation Project: The project was undertaken in Athamalik sub-division of Angul district but it is far from being complete. It was approved in March 1993 at an estimated cost of `37.70 crore. Time delays have raised the current cost to `226.77 crore in 2009 and further to `417.56 crore in 2015. This project is meant to create irrigation potential for 5713.50 hectare. The Water Resources Department has targeted to complete it by the end of this financial year.
Chheligada Dam Project: The project is being undertaken across the river Badjhore, a tributary of river Vamsadhara in Udayagiri block of Gajapati district. This project is also hanging fire due to apathy of the WR department. The project was approved in July 2005 at an estimated cost of `78.73 crore. Due to the delay, the cost has escalated to `207.01crore in 2008. The project is expected to provide irrigation to new Ayacut of 3800 hectare. It also envisages mini hydel schemes at three locations taking advantage of the natural drops in the riverbed of Ghodahada to generate 35 MW of electricity. This project is yet to be completed. The government has set a revised target to complete it by 2019-20.
Mahanadi-Chitrotpala Island Irrigation Project: This major irrigation project was approved in May 1989 by the Planning Commission for `39.94 crore for irrigating 19542 hectare of Cultivable Command Area (CCA) in the island bound by the Mahanadi-Chitrotpala and Mahanadi-Paika rivers. Work started in 1988-89. Owing to time overruns, the project cost was first revised to `93.07 crore, then to `124.72 crore and now `395.46 crore. This project still hangs fire.
Lower Indra Irrigation Project: In order to improve the socio-economic condition of the inhabitants of KBK districts and to eradicate frequent drought situations, the government had proposed to construct Lower Indra Irrigation Project under Accelerated Irrigation Benefit programme (AIBP) in 1998-99 with an investment of `211.70 crore. The project cost was first revised to `521.13 crore and then to `1182.23 crore. Now, the revised cost is Rs1753.64 crore and this too seems to be a never-ending project.