Kendrapara: Even as 32 years have passed since work started on the Mahanadi-Chitrotpala Island Irrigation Project (MCIP), the project is halfway through.
Work on the project had started in 1988-89 under the state plan and Rs 45.81 crore was spent till 1995-96. The MCIP project was launched with an aim to providing irrigation facilities to over 19,542 hectares of farmland in Kendrapara and Jagatsinghpur districts.
The project had stirred hope among farmers of getting irrigation facilities in Garadpur, Marshaghai, Mahakalapara blocks of Kendrapara district and in Tirtol block of Jagatsinghpur.
The plan outlay was only Rs 39.94 crore in 1989 which rose to Rs 395.46 crore in 2012. The project work has stopped after the term of the lending firm Asian Development Bank expired in 2019. Farmers and residents claimed lack of political will has delayed the project.
Sribatsha Samal, a farmer, of Marshaghai alleged that the construction of the canal to the left of the Paika river has stopped near Batira while the construction of the canal to the right of Chitrotpala river has stopped near Kalabuda.
Irrigation for farm lands can happen only after construction of branch and sub-canals, he added.
Ganesh Chandra Samal, a Zilla Parishad member, said the then Patkura MLA Bijaya Mohapatra had decided to provide irrigation facilities to their farmlands through construction of canals in 1989.
The state government sanctioned Rs 39.94 crore for the project the same year. The project work received a boost after Mohapatra became the irrigation minister.
Construction of siphon and bridges was constructed till Krishnandapur in Tirtol at an expenditure of Rs 45.81 crore during the period. Later, the project stopped.
It took off after a voluntary outfit Jana Surakshya Manch launched an agitation for completion of the project in 2012. The plan outlay was raised to Rs 395.46 crore and it was decided to finish it anyway by 2014. However, that was not to be as the work was shelved again. It restarted in 2016-17 but is yet to be completed.
Pramod Kumar Swain, a social activist, said the soil in Kendrapara district is conducive for all types of crops but lack of irrigation facilities has come up as an impediment. The canal bed is getting silted due to lack of water flow.
When contacted, ADM Basant Kumar Rout said a meeting was convened in December 2020 and it was decided to finish the project very soon.
PNN