Odisha Signs MoU With IIT-Roorkee For State Specific Action Plan On Water Sector

Bhubaneswar: In order to ensure improve management of water resources, the Odisha government has signed an MoU with the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Roorkee in Uttarakhand.

The Department of Water Resources (DoWR) and IIT-Roorkee signed the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for preparation of State Specific Action Plan (SSAP) on water sector for Odisha in the presence of Minister of Water Resources Tukuni Sahu and Development Commissioner Anu Garg in Bhubaneswar on Thursday. EIC, Water Resources Bhaktaranjan Mohanty on behalf of the department and Head of Water Resources Development & Management (WRD&M), IIT, Roorkee Prof Asish Pandey signed the agreement.

Speaking on the occasion, Minister Sahu said Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik has always emphasised on the development and better management of water resources. “Our aim is to meet the requirement of water for all. While we are getting plenty of water during the rainy season, we face water scarcity in summer. The use of technology will help us meet the water requirement of our state in the coming days,” she added.

The total time for preparation of SSAP will be 18 months which will be completed in three stages. The stage I will be of 9 months in which the Status Report on Water Resources in Odisha, its availability, development and management along with a state-level workshop will be carried out. In stage II of 6-month duration, interim report will be prepared which will contain impact of climate change, various interventions followed with a second workshop and sensitisation of policy makers. The State will get final report on SSAP by the end of stage III.

Garg said the MoU will help increase water use efficiency and irrigation potential in the state. “We are managing water resources and irrigation through various major, medium and minor reservoirs, check dams, command area development (CADs) and OLIC with the support of Pani Panchayats, canal lining and also through climate resilient infrastructure development. Despite all this, we need to prepare a long-term action plan looking at the future need of water,” she added.

Among others, Prof Akshay Dwivedi, Dean, Sponsored Research and DevelopmentIndustrial Consultancy, IIT Roorkee; Mohit P Mohanty, Assistant Professor, WRD&M; Sudhanshu Mohan Samal, Additional Secretary, Department of Water Resources and MD, OLIC; Chief Engineer (Planning) Sagar Mohanty and senior officers of the DoWR were present during the signing of MoU.