A State may have big ambitious goals, but it can start to achieve those goals by taking small steps, one at a time.
Apparently inspired by this dictum, the State water resources department has focused on removing minor obstacles in making at least half a dozen medium irrigation schemes functional instead of taking up new ones, and making at least 5,400-hectare land green by June 30.
These irrigation projects included Upper Sankh reservoir in Gumla, Sukari reservoir scheme in lohardaga, Sonua in Naxal-hit West Singhbhum, Ramrekha in Simdega, Punasi in Deoghar and Amanat in Panki block of Palamu district.
Most of these irrigation schemes had been initiated in 1980s. They have remained incomplete, though spending a huge amount and creating irrigation potential for a negligible piece of land.
Expectedly, their estimated cost has escalated, at least 10 times in these years. “They have virtually proved to be a white elephant,” said a Superintending Engineer rank official.
To cite an example, he said that the original administrative approval of Upper Sankh project in 1981 was just `9.19 crore, which had been revised to `141.19 crore in 2007. And it could irrigate just 85 hectares by March this year after spending a whopping sum of `140.60 crore.
Incidentally, these schemes had not been held up by any big problem. Most of the obstacles included like missing distributaries, choked canals, broken gates etc.
“Now, the Government has started working on removing the obstacles, and set June 30 deadline to irrigate at least 5,400 ha from these projects,” he pointed out.
Official sources said that there had been huge loss of irrigation potential created by the major and medium irrigation schemes over the years, thanks to lack of maintenance of the structures like canal and distributaries. Out of 3 lakh hectares of irrigation potential created by103 major and medium schemes, only 0.91 lakh hectares are being utlilised, pegging the loss in irrigation potentials at 70 per cent.
“The restoration of lost irrigation potential is a major challenge for us, said the engineer. “We are committed to restore at least 58.092 ha by the end of current fiscal. We have got a fund of Rs 271.26 crore for the job,” he added.
Out of 79.72 lakh ha of the State’s geographical area, out of which irrigation potential could be created for 24.25 lakh ha. But the irrigation potential has been created for just 8.94 lakh ha (36.86 per cent), which is far less than national average i.e. above 70 per cent.
Principal Secretary, Water resources, Sukhdev Singh said that we have given focus on the ongoing schemes and are trying to complete them by removing obstacles, most of them minor ones.
“If canal is there, distributaries are missing. At some places, sluice gates are missing. So, we thought better give the ongoing schemes a trial and complete them in order to provide water to parched land immediately,” he added.
For example, in Sukari scheme, 80 per cent of dam work is complete, 40 per cent of main canal is complete.
In Sonua reservoir, with irrigation potential of 8,008 hectares, most of the works like dam and spillway, canal are complete, but the distributory system is not there resulting into zero irrigation from the scheme, initiated in 1981 and that too after spending Rs 75.60 crore. Now, 2,000 ha of the famers of Naxal-hit Sonua block could get water by June-end.
The story of Amanat barrage project, initiated in 1974 in Palamu and Punasi project, initiated in 1982 in Deoghar, is all the more shocking.
The Government has spent Rs 249.76 crore on Amanat and Rs 187.88 crore on Punasi project but failed to get even a single hectare of land irrigated.
lack of forest clearance for some 288 ha was said to be holding up the Punasi project. The Centre has rejected the stage one clearance for the forest areas. Now, after a PIl in Jharkhand High Court, the Centre is again being requested to give the clearance.
