Baripada: Taking note of a report published in Orissa Post highlighting the sorry state of the historic Baladiha dam in Shyamakhunta block of Mayurbhanj district, the irrigation department woke up from slumber and initiated steps to renovate it, bringing cheer to the farming community.
It was learnt that the chief engineer of the Subarnarekha Irrigation Project has been entrusted with the task of the dam’s renovation.
Bangiriposi MLA Sudam Marndi met the chief engineer here Saturday and held a discussion about quick renovation of the dam.
Maharaja Sriram Chandra Bhanja Deo, the erstwhile king of Mayurbhanj, had got the dam constructed over river Palpala in 1912 with an objective of providing irrigation facility to farmers of the region.
The river flows beside the Similipal sanctuary. The reservoir was capable of irrigating farmland within 205 sq/km area. The height of the dam is 7.21 metre while its width is 1.5 metre. The right canal of the dam is 13.05 km long while the left canal is 6.6 km long.
The water reservoir used to irrigate hundreds of hectares of land in a host of panchayats including Baladiha, Nuagaon, Kuladiha, Kantapal, Danamara, Khandia, Bangei, Jagannathpur,
Janudiha, Kundalabani, Rangamatia, Shyamakhunta, Sinduragouri, Astia, Dhanpur, Tikarapada, Ambadali, Sankuladiha, Juali and Ruma. About 25,000 farmers benefited from the project.
However, lack of renovation over the years has taken a toll on the reservoir. It has been bunged up with cumulative deposits of silt carried by the river from Similipal. The dam’s water retaining capacity shrunk so did its irrigational coverage. This left scores of farmers high and dry while many were forced to stop cultivation.
MLA Marndi had received several complaints from the local people about the miserable condition of the dam. The MLA had raised the issue in the Assembly as well.
Though the irrigation department claims that it provides irrigation to 3,832 hectares of land in the area, reality tells a different tale. PNN
