The Jharkhand Government has so far constructed 15 barrages upstream the Brahmani river out of which one is meant for power generation and the rest 14 for irrigation purpose. Besides, the neighouring State has proposed to construct three more barrages.
Water Resource Minister Niranjan Pujari revealed this in the State Assembly in response to a question of Rourkela MLA Dilip Ray on Tuesday.
According to the Minister, the Brahmani has two distributaries, the Shankha and the Koel, which are flowing in Jharkhand. While the upper Sunki Power Project is operating on the Koel in Gumla district, 14 others have already been constructed on both the distributaries.
While Ray wanted to know ‘how many barrages are already constructed and the number of barrages yet to be constructed by neighbouring States like Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand and their impacts on Odisha, the Minister stated that the Government can’t reveal the impact as the Mahanadi river water dispute is pending before the tribunal.
But the Minister said apart from barrages constructed on the Shankha and the Koel, the Chandili Dam has been built over the Subarnarekha river in Jharkhand from which Odisha, West Bengal and Jharkhand would be benefitted.
He said the Andhra Pradesh Government has already constructed two barrages at Gota and Katraguda on river Bansadhara and has a proposal to construct one more barrage at Katraguda. Besides, work of another barrage over the Mahendratanaya river is going on at Chapra in Srikakulam district. The AP Government has also constructed two projects on river Nagabali.
The Minister informed that survey and inspections are being done for construction of 24 dam projects on different rivers in the State.
Stating that the water flow in the Brahmani has reduced due to barrages built in Jharkhand, Ray said they would affect the steel city of Rourkela if appropriate measures are not taken. He also called upon both the Union and the State Government to take steps for protection of the Brahmani river in line with the Ganga rejuvenation programme.