Business2 min
Odisha CM Majhi launches Rs 120-crore lift irrigation projects in Keonjhar, Mayurbhanj
Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi says water for dry fields could let farmers harvest two or three crops a year instead of one.
Odisha Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi has launched lift irrigation projects worth Rs 120 crore in Keonjhar and Mayurbhanj districts. He says the schemes will let farmers in these areas grow two to three crops a year instead of one, which should lift their incomes.
For a farmer who depends on the monsoon, a second or third crop is the difference between a tight year and a comfortable one. Majhi framed the projects in those terms. "If farmers prosper, Odisha prospers," he said, adding that the rural economy cannot grow until water reaches the fields. He described the effort as more than laying pipes, calling it a way to turn dry soil into golden harvests.
Majhi, who also holds the Water Resources portfolio, took a political swipe at the previous BJD government. He accused it of missing its target of irrigating at least 35 per cent of farmland in every block. Speaking as a farmer's son, he said that getting water to the land solves half of a farmer's problems.
He then laid out the current government's numbers. The state aims to bring irrigation to 15 lakh hectares over the next five years, and this year's budget sets aside Rs 14,500 crore for irrigation projects. Six intra-basin reservoir projects are complete, and 1,941 km of field channels have been lined with reinforced cement concrete, improving irrigation across 80,000 hectares. Lining channels helps water travel farther with less loss.
Work is also under way on underground pipelines under the Anandapur Barrage, Lower Suktel and Kusumi Barrage projects. Across the state, 656 new check dams have been built and 1,022 old ones renovated. Majhi said the long-awaited Kanupur Irrigation Project in Keonjhar will be formally inaugurated in December, and he expects it to water thousands of hectares.
The visit went beyond farming. Majhi inaugurated a Community Health Centre at Jhumpura, built for Rs 17.97 crore, and a new SBI branch at Raikala. He also announced a Rs 24-crore sports complex at Raikala and a Rs 30-crore residential school for SC/ST students.
