BHUBANESWAR: Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Monday said the decision of the State Government to provide river water to Posco’s proposed mega steel project near Paradip would neither affect irrigation nor supply of drinking water to the people of Cuttack district. In a written reply to a question from Prakash Chandra Behera (Cong), the Chief Minister said water released from Hirakud and Indravati dams flow through a barrage at Jobra near Cuttack. The amount of water flowing through the barrage would meet all the water requirement of the area, he said.
Justifying the Government’s decision, he said barrages are constructed over rivers to increase water level for releasing water to downstream through canals. “According to the government’s water policy, water is provided according to priorities like drinking purpose, ecology, irrigation, hydro-electricity generation and industrial requirements,” he said.