BHUBANESWAR: The Lower Suktel Irrigation Project in Balangir seems to have vanished from the priority with the Ministry of Jal Shakti silent about its progress and financial support. The Ministry has prioritised 99 major and minor irrigation projects in the country including eight from Odisha under Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana (PMKSY) - Accelerated Irrigation Benefit Programme (AIBP) scheme. There is no mention of Lower Suktel which has been hanging fire for decades due to public resistance and political will.
BJP MP from Balangir Sangeeta Singhdeo sought to know from Jal Shakti Minister Rattan Lal Kataria if the Centre has any plan to grant special package for completion of irrigation projects to address agrarian distress in Kalahani, Balangir and other chronically drought prone areas of the State. In response to the unstarred question of Singhdeo in Lok Sabha on Thursday, the Minister said 99 ongoing irrigation projects were prioritised in 2016-17 in consultation with states for completion by December 2019 along with command area development and water management (CADWM) under Har Khet Ko Pani (HKKP).
Of the 99 irrigation projects, 8 are from Odisha - Upper Indravati, Lower Indra, Rukura, Subarnarekha, Integrated Anandapur Barrage, Ret, Kanupur, and Telengir. On completion, these projects will benefit Kalahandi, Nabarangpur, Nuapada, Balangir, Sundargarh, Keonjhar and Koraput districts of the State.
The Union Minister further said that it was decided that funds arrangement for the Centre and State share for these 99 projects will be made through NABARD under long term irrigation fund (LTIF).
The surface minor irrigation (SMI) projects are also covered under the HKKP component for financial support through budgetary means. However, on January 10, 2020, the Ministry of Finance conveyed to the Jal Shakti Ministry about the continuation of the ongoing Centrally sponsored schemes for a period up to March 31. To another query of the MP, Kataria said there is no proposal for giving special package to other agrarian crisis/drought prone areas.
The project which was getting financial assistance under AIBP has become a casualty of lack of progress and desired push for its completion. The original estimate of the project was Rs 217.13 crore which was revised several times to Rs 1,041.09 crore due to time and cost overrun.