Kendrapara: Summer season is yet to return to the state. However, a drop in the water level of Luna river this winter season has sparked concern among the residents of this district.
It is apprehended that the decline in water level will seriously affect agriculture and drinking water supply to Kendrapara town. Things have come to such a pass that the riverbed is visible from a distance.
Locals alleged that rampant sand mining has led to a change in river’s course and subsequently a drop in the water level. It has brought the lives and livelihood of the residents under threat.
It is apprehended that over 10,000 hectare of farmland will remain uncultivated due to lack of irrigation facilities from the river.
Drinking water is being supplied to Kendrapara town from a pump house on the banks of Luna river jointly installed by the Public Health Engineering Organisation (PHEO) and Water Resources department.
The water level in the river adjoining the pump house has dropped abysmally since this December.
Alarmed over the development, the PHEO officials dug up a channel up to the pump house from the opposite side of the river to ensure that water supply to the town is not disrupted.
However, the channel also dried up soon. A social activist Sukhadananda Pradhan said that the water level in the river is declining for the last few years.
The construction of a barrage on the upstream of Mahanadi is one of the reasons behind the drop in water level of Luna river.
Similarly, various industrial firms are lifting the river water through bore wells for their use, which is another reason behind the drop in its water level. The problem could be resolved by adopting river linking and construction of barrages on the river, it was said.
The water resources department has constructed check dams at Padagayaspur, Gayaspur, Thauri, Chadheiguan, Rajgarh and Angulai to irrigate the farmlands.
Senior citizens claimed that the river water could irrigate over 10,000 hectare in Marshaghai and Mahakalapara blocks if it was dug up.
Zilla Parishad member Ganesh Chandra Samal said illegal sand and soil mining, encroachments and river bank erosion have forced the river to change its course.
He said that mismanagement has not only affected the Luna river but all the seven rivers and 27 branch canals flowing through the district.
Over 15,850 hectare of farmland does not have any facility to drain out the water. Over 32,350 hectare of farmland is in saline regions while 34, 952 hectare is flood-affected. Similarly, 84,910 hectare is drought prone.
Samal said that the drinking water and irrigation problem could be resolved if a canal was dug up from the river about 15 km from the coastline.
When contacted, Prabodh Kumar Rout, executive engineer of water resources department said that various plans are being implemented for development of the river.
The district administration is keeping a check on illegal sand mining while the water resources department is working to strengthen the river embankments, he added.
PNN