Nayagarh: The dream of the farmers has suffered a jolt as Brutanga irrigation project here has failed to take off reportedly due to lack of statutory environmental clearance and apathy of the state government. Reports said the government has already spent Rs 4.99 crore on survey, but the project has made little progress.
Brutanga project is aimed at irrigating 30,920 hectare land in Daspalla, Khandapara, Nayagarh, Nuagaon and Odagaon blocks of Nayagarh district.
The project will benefit 7.42 lakh people of 309 villages in the district besides supplying drinking water to Nayagarh town. The project would irrigate 20,970 hectare land in Kharif season and 9,320 hectares in Rabi season, said sources. It was estimated that altogether 680 families will be displaced by the project.
However, no step has been taken to rehabilitate the probable oustees till date. On the other hand, the government has not been able to carry out the project work due to lack of environmental clearance. The project is being dubbed as the lifeline of Nayagarh district, but its stage-I clearance has sparked concerns over submergence of a key elephant corridor.
According to environmentalists, the project will destroy a route regularly used by elephants. The order of the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF), granting stage-1 forest clearance to the project, included some conditions intended to safeguard the wildlife such as building overpasses to allow elephants to cross the canal. The area that would be submerged is close to Baisipalli Wildlife Sanctuary.
A study revealed that both the proposed submergence area and the canal (that will connect Brutanga and Kuanria reservoirs) are being regularly used by elephants during their transit across the Mahanadi in summer.
In protest against the delay in the project, farmers and project supporters had taken out a 40-km rally from Dasapalla to Nayagarh town in February 2021. They had staged protests in front of Nayagarh collectorate, seeking expeditious execution of the project. They also demanded rehabilitation of the people identified for displacement first and include Ranpur, Bolagada and Begunia blocks under the project area. President of Brutanga Jalasechana Prakalpa Sabha Committee and lawyer Manoj Kumar Sahu said that the project is a 50-year-old dream of the people of Nayagarh which is being shattered. Ranjit Dalabehera, a farmer of Balugaon, said all parties should come together to put pressure on the government to carry out the project expeditiously.
Social activist Santosh Pradhan said the project work has been halted due to politics and there is need for holding talks with the Union government.
