BHUBANESWAR: All is not well in Pani Panchayats (PPs) of the State. A study to evaluate community lift irrigation scheme in the state found that 27 per cent (pc) beneficiary farmers are deprived of water to their agriculture fields and there is absolutely no monitoring mechanism.
The study conducted by a Lucknow-based agency as commissioned by Programme Performance and Outcome Monitoring Unit of the Finance department revealed that nearly 10 pc projects under Odisha Lift Irrigation Corporation (OLIC) and 19 pc projects under Odisha Agro Industries Corporation (OAIC) are lying defunct.
Major reasons for lift irrigation (LI) points going defunct have been attributed to faulty structural design or construction, reduced water flow from river because of change of its course, broken pipelines, institutional apathy and outstanding electric bills.
“It took 1.5 years to two years for sanction of the irrigation projects and another one year for installation of one community LI project. After the community irrigation projects were handed over to PPs, neither the OLIC nor the OAIC is monitoring the projects,” the study claimed.
The assessment was undertaken to examine efficiency and sustainability of the community lift irrigation projects, change in performance of irrigated agriculture and socioeconomic condition of farmer-beneficiaries and recommend policy measures for effective implementation of the scheme.
The study has covered 500 PPs, including 400 under OLIC and 100 under OAIC, in seven districts - Angul, Balasore, Ganjam, Kalahandi, Khurda, Koraput and Sundargarh.
Besides, 21 case studies involving 15 functional and six defunct LI projects were covered as part of the study.
Odisha has around 29,500 PPs that were formed to provide equitable, timely and assured irrigation to farms with active participation of farmers in the management of lift irrigation systems.
As the PPs struggle with major repair work and most of the time they do not have sufficient fund for it, the agency has suggested to devise a mechanism for operation and maintenance of the projects and explore underground piping to ensure sustainability of the LI projects.
The agency has also recommended OLIC and OAIC to coordinate with Odisha Skill Development Authority to explore opportunities in creating a cadre of block/cluster level mechanics to undertake minor repairing works of broken LI points and install prepaid meters to check power theft.
Use of solar photovoltaic (SPV) systems to provide energy to PPs has also been recommended so that the PPs can be able to energise their LI pumps and sell extra power generated with the help of mini-grids.
Part of generated funds can be diverted for operation and maintenance of the projects.
Meanwhile, Principal Secretary of Finance department Ashok K Meena has directed Water Resources department to take appropriate measures in coordination with OLIC, OAIC, Agriculture and Energy departments for sustainable and effective implementation of the scheme.