Rayagada: Residents and social outfits have urged the state government to construct an irrigation project on the upstream of Vamshadhara river to help farmers in the region irrigate their farmlands, a report said.
The matter came to the fore after a delegation of the Vamshadhara Ababahika Surakshya Samiti in Gunupur submitted a memorandum in this regard to District Collector Saroj Kumar Mishra, addressed to the 5T Secretary, Tuesday.
Samiti members Pradeep Kumar Das, Manoj Kamal Pani and Umashankar Das were present during the submission of the memorandum to the Collector.
The members claimed that farmers in the region have failed to make the best use of the river water despite the Vamshadhara Water Dispute Tribunal permitting the state government to make use of 50 per cent of the river water.
Construction of an irrigation project will help solve the problem, they said. According to an order passed by the tribunal, both Odisha and Andhra Pradesh can use 50 per cent each of 115 TMC water of the Gota barrage in their own areas.
Accordingly, the neighbouring Andhra Pradesh has expedited the construction of Katraguda and Neredi projects to use 50 per cent of the river water in its area.
However, the Odisha government is yet to think of constructing a project on the upstream of the river in the state, the Samiti members alleged.
The Samiti members claimed that water to the farmland could be provided for irrigation in the area if the state government takes up construction of the barrage, check dams and mega irrigation projects on the upstream of the river.
The construction of the barrage and irrigation projects will also help in checking water scarcity during summer season and floods during rainy season, they said.
PNN
