Bhubaneswar: Odisha has been ranked 2nd in Best State category of the National Water Award, 2022 by the Ministry of Jal Shakti for its work in the field of water resources conservation and management during 2020-21 and 2021-22.
Due to Odisha government’s initiatives, more than 4 lakh farmers have been provided water security by creating additional irrigation facilities of 3.2 lakh hectare. The Water Resources Department has completed two major projects of Lower Indra Irrigation Project in Nuapada and Bolangir and Upper Indravati Lift Canal Project in Kalahandi.
Besides, 61 mega lift irrigation projects providing water to the upland areas, 2833 Community Lift Irrigation Projects and 22,500 Deep Bore Wells ensuring geographical and social inclusiveness have been completed.
The government has also resolved the long pending issues of Subarnarekha Irrigation Project and provided irrigation to approximately 32,000 hectare. Further, due to adoption of underground pipeline in the distribution systems of all categories of irrigation projects, the irrigation efficiency of the projects by and large has been increased by more than 20%.
For conservation of water resources, the government has committed to invest Rs 11,700 crore over a period of five years for taking up 46 In-stream Storage Structures in various rivers to conserve approximately 50,000 hectare-meter of water. Besides, the ground water resources of the state have increased to 17.26 billion cubic meters due to various water conservation measures taken up by the department.
The award will be conferred by the Ministry of Jal Shakti on Odisha department in an award function to be held soon.
