Paralakhemundi: Canals of various water conservation projects here are choked with silt and garbage due to lack restoration work in Paralakhemundi town of Gajapati district.
As a result, thousands of acres are deprived of irrigation. According to reports, at different times the erstwhile royals of Paralakehmundi had dug large ponds and canals for irrigation.
The prominent projects among them include Ramsagar, Sitasagar, Laxman Sagar and Gajapti Sagar. In the past, thousands of acres were utilised for irrigation throughout the year through a network of well planned canals.
Now, many canals are in bad shape, while some of them have become very shallow due to deposits of silt and garbage. Moreover, people have even encroached parts of many canals at different places.
A case in point is a 5-km-long canal from Ramsagar to Sitasagar. Water stored in the ponds helped the farm sector flourish in the region. But over the years, as the township began to expand, farmers started selling their land.
Some people even grabbed parts of canals and built their houses on or near them. Last year, the administration removed encroachments at some places, but many areas still remain under encroachment.
The district administration has issued an order to hand over the 2.5 km of canal area from Patapatnam till Sitasagar to the local civic body. The problem is that effluents and garbage discharged from houses and hospitals are being dumped into the canal.
Sewerage water mingles with the water in the canals at different places between Medical Chak and Serijagil Sahi. Tons of garbage have been dumped in the 1-km stretch Serijagil Sahi to Gopalpur in Andhra Pradesh.
The civic body is hardly concerned about the problem and seldom clears the garbage dump, locals allege. During rains, the garbage dumped in the canal is carried to the farmlands.
As farming is hit by choked canals and garbage, farmers in the area are compelled to sell their land to land sharks at throwaway price. This trend has picked up since last few years.
Land mafia has started selling farmlands through plotting. On the other hand, the 2.5-kmlong canal is under the Minor Irrigation department, but it has not been handed over to the civic body till date.
As per the order of the Collector, the civic body has supervisory responsibility over the canal area. For the last 15 years farmers of the local pani panchayat have been demanding that the civic body clears the garbage from the canal , but all pleas fell on deaf ears, alleged Suryanarayan Pattnaik, president of the Krushak Sangh.
Laxmiprasad Achary, a local resident, warned of an agitation if the district administration and the civic body failed to clear the garbage from the canal.
Asked to comment on the issue, executive engineer of the Minor Irrigation department, PK Rout blamed the civic body for choking the canal, saying that the canal is choked due to release of garbage and effluents into it.
On other hand, the district administration had demolished a house located behind a local hospital with a view to reconstruct the canal.
However, it is alleged that the drive has been halted as some influential people who live in the area opposed the district administration’s move.
PNN