Country’s First Groundwater Recharge Project: Odisha Govt Inks Mou With NABARD

Bhubaneswar: The Odisha Government on Friday signed a MoU with the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) for implementation of the country’s first groundwater recharge project from the Green Climate Fund (GCF), based in South Korea.

The MoU was signed between KC Panigrahi, the Chief General Manager (CGM) of NABARD’s Odisha Regional Office and Vishal Gagan, Special Secretary of the State Water Resources Department at the State Secretariat in the presence of Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik.

Under the project, groundwater recharge would be enhanced in the community ponds through structural adaptation measures and the use of solar pumps for micro-irrigation. Groundwater recharge measures will improve water security and quality for around 5.2 million beneficiaries in vulnerable communities through the installation of groundwater recharge shafts in 10,000 tanks.

Though the tanks and ponds in the region provide effective rainwater collection, they are inefficient at recharging groundwater due to the low permeable soil. The groundwater recharge shafts can be transformative by demonstrating their ability to recharge the underlying aquifer system and developing long-term groundwater reserves. At the same time, resilient crop planning through irrigation will improve food security in the region, while the use of solar pumps for irrigation will increase energy access and contribute to the state’s climate-resilient, low emission crop planning.

The project has an estimated lifespan of 20 years.

The project will be implemented in 15 districts i.e., Bargarh, Balangir, Boudh, Gajapati, Kalahandi, Kandhamal, Keonjhar, Koraput, Malkangiri, Mayurbhanj, Nuapada, Nabarangpur, Rayagada, Sambalpur and Sonepur.

The estimated cost of the project is Rs 1,165 crore of which the GCF will provide about Rs 232 crore through NABARD while the state government will arrange the rest amount.

The project will be completed in five years.

The Chief Minister urged the officials of the NABARD, Water Resources, Panchayati Raj & Drinking Water and Forest & Environment to work together to create a model for adaptive action.

Among others, Forest and Environment Minister Bijayshree Routray, Finance minister Sashibhusan Behera, Agriculture and Animal Resources Development minister Pradip Maharathy, School and Mass Education Minister Badri Narayan Patra, Chief Secretary Aditya Prasad Padhi and Development Commissioner R Balakrishnan were present at the meeting.