Jajpur: Construction of a barrage on Mahanadi in Chhattisgarh has set alarm bells ringing in this district, as the project will dry up its distributaries Brahmani, Birupa and Genguti besides affecting residents of 25 panchayats in the district.
It is apprehended that once the barrage gets completed it will restrict water flow of Brahmani, Birupa and Genguti flowing through Barchana, Dharmasala, Rasulpur and Bari blocks and eventually dry them up.
This can be well gauged from the fact this year the water-level in Hirakud reservoir has remained low in comparison to previous years.
Every year, Hirakud dam discharges its first floodwaters by July 24 as over 26 million acre ft of water enters the reservoir during the rainy season. Out of this, 8 million acre ft of water is discharged into adjoining canals and for use in power plants and industrial units while over 18 million acre ft flows into the Bay of Bengal through Mahanadi.
However, the reservoir often discharges two to three times more water than its retaining capacity in rainy season in case of more rainfall due to inclement climatic condition. If there is more rainfall then the water-level increases 15-20 times.
This year, erratic rainfall has prevented the river water from Chhattisgarh from flowing into the reservoir as the water level in the dam by Wednesday afternoon was found at 611.77 cft.
It is apprehended that once the barrage gets completed in Chhattisgarh the lower catchment area of Mahanadi is sure to get affected even in non-monsoon season.
It will dry up Brahmani, Birupa and Genguti and completely disrupt operation of irrigation projects in 25-panchayts in the lower catchment area. This will also result in depletion of groundwater in these areas.
While low rainfall has worsened the water flow in the distributaries, the barrage construction is sure to dry them up.
Birupa emerges from Mahanadi at Naraj in Cuttack district and flows up to 30 km from where Genguti emerges and flows through 16 panchayats in Barchana block, eight panchayats in Bari block and two panchayats in Dharmasala block.
The villagers are dependent on these two rivers. Moreover, irrigation projects are being implemented in Charinangal and Gajendrapur over Birupa and Khadianga, Benapur and Radhedeipur over Genguti.
The rural water supply and sanitation department has planned to construct mega irrigation projects on Brahmani and Birupa. Observers claimed that if these rivers go dry then the projects can never be implemented.
Residents of riparian villages use the river water for drinking and irrigation purpose. They mostly cultivate vegetables and pulses to earn a living.
Farmers Birendra Jena, Manabhanjan Routray, Ramachandra Khuntia said they will lose their livelihood if these rivers go dry due to the barrage in Chhattisgarh.
Bishnu Charan Mohanty of Brahmani Banchao Abhiyan said if the barrage gets completed then these three rivers will become extinct like Prachi and Saraswati. PNN