BHUBANESWAR /BARIPADA: Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik launched the release of water from the canal system of Subarnarekha Irrigation Project (SIP) through video conference on Monday.
During the launch, water from the project was released though five canals at Puruduhi near Kathpal in Baripada block.
The CM said it will create irrigation potential for 15,359 hectares of land (ha) in five blocks of Mayurbhanj district.
Mayurbhanj will be the first in the country to provide pipe water to all households and Rs 768 crore is being spent to facilitate the projects in the district, he said.
Irrigation is a priority sector of State government and water will be released to 10,000 ha land from Deo irrigation project before ensuing kharif season.
Over 1.09 lakh ha agricultural land in Mayurbhanj and Balasore districts will get irrigation water through the Subarnarekha Irrigation project, he asserted.
Advising proper utilisation of irrigation water, Naveen said the State government is always with the farmers and has launched several schemes for their welfare including the Krushak Assistance for Livelihood and Income Augmentation (KALIA) scheme that has benefited 67 lakh farmers families.
The government will continue to stand with the farmers till they get their due rights, the CM promised.
The CM also announced that 10 to 15 irrigation projects will be completed in the State within the next two to three years.
Minister for Panchayati Raj and Drinking Water Pratap Jena said the focus of the government is on development of Mayurbhanj district.
By January 2024, the the Subarnarekha project is likely to create irrigation potential of 70,000 hectares in the district, he said.
Water Resources Minister Raghunandan Das, who also attended the launching ceremony, said 94 villages within the five blocks of Baripada, Betnoti, Moroda, Suliapada, and Rashgobindpur in Baripada Sub-division will be benefitted by the SIP.
Previously, water from SIP was supplied to 20,000 ha after the project was inaugurated by the CM in 2013.
Collector Vineet Bhardwaj, SP Rishikesh D Khilari, officials of Water Resources and district officials were present on the occasion.
Project history
Post the flood in 1972, the multi-crore Subarnarekha project was taken up after the first tripartite agreement among the co-basin states of Jharkhand (then Bihar), Odisha and West Bengal was signed on January 17, 1976.
SIP Chief Engineer Pravat Ranjan Rout said construction work of the project commenced in 1989 when Nilamani Routray was the Odisha CM.