Ahead of the Bijepur Assembly by-election, the State Government has decided to implement Odisha’s first underground pipelines-based irrigation system in the Bijepur area in Bargarh district. The project would be named as ‘Gangadhar Meher lift Canal System’.
An announcement in this regard was made by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Monday. “This project will irrigate a gross command area of about 32,000 hectares including 25,600 hectares in Kharif and 7,000 hectares in Rabi season. It will cost about Rs 1,250 crore,” the Chief Minister said.
“The project will pump water from the Bargarh Main Canal through an 18-km-long underground rising main pipeline, where from irrigation will be provided through underground pipelines-based distribution system with outlets for every four hectares of land,” Patnaik said.
“The project will utilise latest technologies in irrigation and will be developed as a model project for the entire country,” he added.
BJP chief spokesperson Sajjan Sharma remarked that the Government woke up to the need of irrigation in Bijepur when a by-poll is round the corner in the area. Would the project really be implemented after the election is over, he questioned.