Dhamnagar: Even as the government has been attaching much importance to irrigation to boost the agriculture sector, a check dam project in this block of Bhadrak district has become a victim of official apathy.
According to a report, no step has been taken to repair the Mirghahatkul check dam which has been lying defunct for several years while hectares of farmland have been deprived of irrigation.
Upset over the deprivation, local farmers said the water of river Genguti drains out into the sea in the absence of sluice gates in the check dam. No step is being taken to set the dam right even though a river renovation project is being executed in the area, they added.
Decades ago, farmers in Kothari, Nadigaon, Dhusuri, Bhatasahi and Dalang panchayats used to check the river water by laying temporary dykes across Genguti. They used river water to cultivate crops.
Thirty years ago, the check dam was constructed to store flood water and use it for agriculture. For 20 years, the dam played a key role in boosting agriculture in the area.
However, in the last decade, the dam has suffered damage due to lack of maintenance while farming has been severely hit in five panchayats.
The authorities concerned did nothing to repair the dam while the river has gone dry this year after a river renovation projection was undertaken.
As there are no canal systems in the area, farmers fail to make use of lift irrigation points.
This year, farmers, particularly vegetable growers, were completely upset over their failure to use the check dam’s water.
Last year, MLA Muktikant Mandal along with engineers of the irrigation department had visited the dam and assured the farmers that a major irrigation project will be built in the area, but there is no sight of the project, locals said.
Engineer of drainage department Dillip Kumar Sahu said the dam project was not under the division earlier. “Now, it is under our department. The design of the project was finished and its cost estimation has been done. Tender will be floated soon,” Sahu added. PNN
