Cabinet clears drinking water, irrigation projects worth 7k cr

Bhubaneswar: The state cabinet on Wednesday approved tenders of 11 projects worth around Rs 7,000 crore, expected to boost irrigation and drinking water facilities.
As part of its plan to install one lakh deep bore wells in five years in hard-rock areas to provide assured irrigation facilities for both Kharif and Rabi crops, a new scheme on sustainable harnessing of ground water in water-deficit areas was approved which will be implemented in 256 blocks of 26 districts, subject to feasibility. Around Rs 4198 crore will be spent on creation of irrigation potential.
The cabinet also approved a scheme to construct check dams as part of the Mukhya Mantri Adibandha Tiari Yojana (MATY), under which around 1,280 check dams across streams and small rivers will be developed.
“The aim is to provide assured irrigation facilities to the areas where farmers are using traditional irrigation by constructing temporary bunds across the stream and augment the irrigation potential of water-stressed areas,” chief secretary Suresh Chandra Mahapatra said.
He said such projects will also provide drinking water facilities to the villages in post-monsoon period as well as replenish and recharge ground water level.
It will be implemented for a period of three years till 2024-25 with an outlay of Rs 811.45 crore for creation of irrigation potential of 27,600 hectares.
Under the ambitious in-stream storage structure scheme, the cabinet approved three such projects.
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