The Nabard launched a national level water campaign in Odisha here on Wednesday, marking the World Water day.
Nabard CGM Dr KC Panigrahi kicked off the drive, which was attended by Indian Institute of Water Management, Bhubaneswar, Director Dr SK Ambast and representatives of the State Government, the State level Bankers’ Committee (SlBC), partner NGOs, universities, water experts and Farmers’ Club volunteers.
Dr Panigrahi outlined the broader strategy for the water campaign in Odisha. He indicated that based on vulnerability assessment report of Central Research Institute for Dry land Agriculture (CRIDA) i.e. Rain fed Area Priority Index (RAPI), 10 most vulnerable/ rainfed/ water scarcity districts of Odisha namely Kalahandi, Malkangiri, Kandhamal, Balangir, Koraput, Rayagada, Gajapati, Nabarangpur, Mayurbhanj and Keonjhar have been identified for the intensive campaign which will cover 5,500 villages in the State. For the purpose a master trainer and 40 local volunteers (Jal Dhoots) will be identified and trained for the campaign in each 10 districts.
Panigrahi hoped that the campaign will focus on knowledge dissemination, adoption of water saving technologies, enhancement of credit, flow of private investments in creation of water sources and its efficient utilisation, besides promoting enhanced farmer’s income/ livelihood security.