Athagarh: Water from Rengali South canal will be made available to the farmlands in the Athagarh and Badamba Assembly segments in Cuttack district.
According to a report, water will be supplied through underground pipes in addition to the canals to the farmlands to enhance irrigation. Availability of the canal water will help the farmers in the region in raising dual crops in an agricultural year.
The canal water is expected to irrigate over 26,334 hectares. It has been estimated to irrigate 24,063 hectares in the first phase and the remaining farmlands in subsequent phases.
This was stated by Ranendra Pratap Swain, state Minister of Food Supplies, and Devi Prasad Mishra, Badamba MLA, at a press conference organised at the Athagarh sub-collector here.
A tender for the project was approved by the state Cabinet, December 24. The entire cost of the project will be borne by the state government and it has been targeted to complete the project work by December 2024. The two leaders said there is no need for land acquisition for the project.
An initial estimate for the project says it will cost Rs 600 crore. The maintenance and repair work for the project will be undertaken on the basis of a survey report.
A sum of Rs 443.22 crore has been sanctioned for the project out of which Rs 198 crore is for Athagarh, Rs 112 crore has been earmarked for Badamba, Rs 87 crore for Banki and Rs 46 crore for Darpani. This project will help in irrigating 12,696 hectares in Athagarh, 9,406 hectares in Tigiria, 80,107 hectares in Badamba.