Kendrapara: With the water level in Luna river declining day by day, a serious drinking water scarcity stares at the face of Kendrapara residents. The decline in water level will not only trigger a drinking water shortage in the town but is also likely to leave the farmlands uncultivated due to a lack of water for irrigation. Reports said that the water level of the Luna river flowing through the Kendrapara district has been declining since December 2022.
Environmentalists said the development was due to rampant and illegal mining of sand from the riverbed. They alleged that the water level has been declining due to illegal sand mining which is likely to change the course of the river. The development has sparked concern in the area. Local intelligentsia said that the problem can be resolved by linking all the seven rivers flowing through the district. Khitish Kumar Singh of Khadianga area in the town said that drinking water is supplied to the residents in Kendrapara town through a pump house established at Kalapada near the Luna river bank.
However, the portion of the river near the pump house has already dried up from January, this year. Alarmed over the development, the PHD and Irrigation department officials dug up a channel of 150 metre length from the opposite side of the river to the pump house for the lifting of the river water. The river water after being lifted by the motor pump is processed and supplied as drinking water to the residents of Kendrapara town.
However, the channel is also drying up slowly creating concerns that drinking water scarcity is looming over the residents of Kendrapara town. If the situation does not improve then the water supply to Kendrapara town might get seriously affected within the next 15 days. A local intelligentsia Santosh Kumar Panda said that check dams have been constructed on Luna river at Padagayaspur, Gayaspur, Thauri, Chadheiguan, Rajgarh, and Angulai in the district for the supply of drinking water to the residents and for providing irrigation facilities to the farmlands.
However, the water level of the river declining even before the start of the summer season is quite alarming. The fall in the river’s water level may deprive the farmlands of irrigation facilities for which around 10,000 hectare of farmlands risks remaining uncultivated. Former Zilla Parishad member Ganesh Chandra Samal said that the 73-km-long Luna river which flows through Kendrapara district was the hub of marine trade during the British rule. However, lack of renovation, illegal sand and soil mining, and encroachments have spelt disaster for the river.
As a result, the river is now changing its course. The residents of Kendrapara district are dependent on agriculture for their livelihood. In the absence of any other viable irrigation facility, the farmers here depend on river water to irrigate their farmlands. However, they lack drainage facilities to discharge the leftover water from over 15,850 hectare of farmland. Moreover, 32,350 hectare of farmland in the district is saline while 34,952 hectare is flood affected. This apart, over 84,910 hectare of farmland in the district is prone to droughts. There have been consistent demands in the Zilla Parishad meetings to devise a plan for proper management of the rivers and canals flowing through the district.
However, these pleas are yet to be addressed. Social activist Pratap Kumar Tripathy said that earlier Luna river water used to help in the cultivation of paddy during the Kharif season and cash crops like jute, groundnuts, and sugarcane during the rabi season. However, farming has been seriously hit in the district due to a sharp decline in the water level of Luna river. Moreover, the construction of dams by the Chhattisgarh government upstream of Mahanadi has also contributed to the situation.
Farmer leader Bidhu Bhsuahn Mohapatra said that linking all seven rivers in the district only can help resolve the situation. When contacted, executive engineer Umesh Chandra Sethi said that various schemes have been launched for the development of the Luna river and the residents will soon reap its benefits.