CM Denies BJP’s Allegations Of No Budget Support For Irrigation Project

Bhubaneswar: The issue of non-allocation of funds for Gangadhar Meher
Lift Canal System in Bargarh district is not a fact. In the annual
budget of 2017-18, an amount of Rs 1.50 crore has been allocated under
pre-project activities of other pipeline projects including Bijepur
Lift Irrigation, which is one of the 58 projects, clarified Chief
Minister Naveen Patnaik on Tuesday. The statement came following
adjournment of the state assembly for an hour owing to ruckus created
by BJP legislators alleging that no budgetary support was provided for
Gangadhar Meher Lift Canal System by state government in its
supplementary budget.

“The Bijepur Lift Irrigation has been recently renamed as Gangadhar
Meher Lift Irrigation Canal System and the same will reflected
accordingly in the outcome budget o Water Resources Department.
Further, Government has already created a working division at Bijepur
with one executive engineer, three assistant executive engineers and
six junior engineers with other support staff to look after this
project exclusively”, the Chief Minister said.

“The estimated cost of the project is Rs 1, 246.56 crore. The project
will provide irrigation to 25, 600 hectares in Khariff and 7, 000
hectares in Rabi in the drought-affected Bijepur, Sohela and Barapalli
blocks of Bargarh district. Modern irrigation technologies such as Under
Ground Pipe Line with Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition System
will be adopted in this project for efficient water management. Micro
Irrigation System will be taken up in 30 percent of project command
area”, Naveen said, adding, “Unlike others, we talk less but our work
speaks for itself. We are the only government to adopt manifesto and
implementing the same in letter and spirit.”