CM Naveen Patnaik inaugurates five mega LI projects

BHUBANESWAR: Chief minister Naveen Patnaik on Saturday inaugurated six mega lift irrigation (LI) projects under the Parbati Giri Mega Lift Irrigation project as part of his governments target to create irrigation facilities for over 10 lakh hectares. These LI projects would irrigate an additional 5,500 hectares.
During a videoconferencing from the secretariat, the chief minister also laid foundation stone for another 24 LI projects that would irrigate nearly 30,000 hectares.These projects would come up in Malkangiri, Jajpur, Sonepur, Boudh and Jharsuguda districts and are expected to be completed by 2021, said an official source.
Launched in 2011-12, the mega lift project programme is one of the successful initiatives of the state government to create irrigation potential for farm land by sourcing water from the nearby rivers.
So far, the state government has taken up 170 LI projects since 2011-12 under the mega lift project covering around 22 districts with an investment of Rs 6,600 crore.
Out of this, 67 projects have already been completed creating irrigation facilities for more than 77,000 hectares, said sources in the water resources department. After receiving flaks from various quarters, including the opposition parties over poor irrigation potential in Odisha, the state government has been focusing on the area since past few years. It has claimed of creating an additional irrigation potential of 7.8 lakh hectares since 2014.
While addressing a rally at Khurda on December 24, 2018, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had criticised the Naveen Patnaik-government for not fulfilling its promises of providing irrigation facilities to over 10 lakh hectares of land, which the BJD had promised in 2014. Modi said it has provided irrigation facilities to only 22,000 hectares.
Countering Modi, the chief minister had claimed that his government has spent Rs 26,889 crore in the past five years to create irrigation facilities in Odisha. Besides large, medium irrigation projects and LI projects, the state government spends on deep bore wells, community lift irrigation points and construction of check dams to augment irrigation potential of the state.