BHUBANESWAR: The Lower Indra irrigation project in Nuapada district has become a saga of neglect and disappointment for the people of two Western Odisha districts as it lies unfinished after 15 years.
Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, who created a record by completing 15 years in office on Thursday, had laid the foundation stone of the project on May 7, 2000 after a massive victory of the BJD-BJP coalition.
The project, sanctioned under the Accelerated Irrigation Benefit Programme (AIBP), was scheduled to be completed by 2003-04 and planned to create irrigation potential for 29,900 hectares in Khariar and Boden blocks of Nuapada district and Bangomunda, Muribahal and Titlagarh blocks of Balangir district.
The original project cost of Rs 211.70 crore was revised several times as it suffered time and cost overrun due to delay in acquisition of land, finalisation of drawing and design, passing of flood water due to closing of river gap without completion of spillway and subsequent scouring of dam base and defective execution of work by contractor, official sources said.
Meanwhile, the cost of project has been revised to Rs 1,625 crore which is 767 per cent higher than the initial project cost. Though about Rs 1,400 crore has been spent on the project, there is a big question mark on its early completion.
“We are expecting that the project will be completed by June next year, if everything goes smoothly,” a senior officer monitoring the left main canal of the project told this paper.
Of 49.38 km of the left main canal, about one km in patches could not be constructed due to public resistance demanding compensation. Land acquisition is still not possible even after distribution of compensation to the affected families. A few people of Barpadar have constructed houses on the canal land demanding further compensation, sources in Kharia said.
The district administration has not taken any tough measures to evict those people apprehending law and order situation. Besides, the administration is scared of the Left wing extremists who recently torched several vehicles and construction machinery in the project site.
The left and right main canals having a length of 49.38 km and 8.22 km respectively will provide irrigation to 13,500 hectares in 90 villages of Nuapada district and 16,400 hectares covering 122 villages of Balangir district.