With over a dozen medium and major irrigation projects stuck in the land acquisition imbroglio for nearly a decade, the BJD’s political somersault over NDA Government’s land acquisition Bill has apparently been a strategy to extricate itself from the quagmire of the farm sector. Along with irrigation projects, rural road projects and rural electrification in Odisha have also been hit hard by land acquisition problems.
Sample the miseries on irrigation front. As per the Water Resources (WR) Department’s data, the Government has a target of irrigating 11.61 lakh hectares land by the year 2015 from around 14 medium and major irrigation projects it took up during the period 1996-2008. However, the reality is the actual potential realised has been a measly below 1 lakh hectares only till 2014.
It has been observed that most of the irrigation projects taken up during the period 1996-2003 with a potential to irrigate over 3.8 lakh hectares land by the year 2012-2014 are yet to provide acreage to a single hectare land thanks to land acquisition problems and agitations by project affected people (PAP), suggests the data.
According to WR Department’s data, as many as 11 medium and major irrigation projects have recorded delay beyond the normal gestation period of completion. These projects have the potential to irrigate over 3.2 lakh hectares land by the end of 2014-15, but the actual potential realised have been mere around 20,000 hectares only.
Incidentally, the reason behind the delay has been attributed by the department to land acquisition mess and agitation by project affected people. Projects like Bagalhati, Chelligada, Deo, Manjore, Rajua, Rengali Right Bank canal, Rukura and Telengiri have been bogged down by land and PAP problems. Only Subarnarekha irrigation project and Rengali left bank canal - II were delayed due to inter-State issues and on forest clearance issues, respectively. The 2013 land Bill has made the task more onerous for the department, said a senior official.
Significantly, the acreage bought under irrigation, including micro-irrigation, in Odisha during the last 14 years has been at the rate of mere 9,500 hectares per year. Even of this, over 60 per cent was by minor flow and lift irrigation projects. Department officials added that owing to land risk, the Government has been laying more emphasis on micro-irrigation schemes like check dams.
Similarly, with an achievement rate of only around 39 per cent (up to January 31, 2015) in intensive electrification of over 68,000 villages under Deendayal Upadhyaya Gramin Jyoti Yojna (DDUGJY), Odisha lags behind the national average by yards. A review meeting undertaken by the State Energy Department here recently identified, among others, land acquisition as the emerging roadblock before DDUGJY in Odisha.
However, the situation seems worse in case of rural roads construction in Odisha under Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY) with a realisation of mere 40 per cent of the total eligible habitations identified for road connectivity in the State as of January 31, 2015, suggests a recent review meeting. Odisha fares poorest in the eastern region, it suggests. The Centre is holding back funds as the State is grappling with land acquisition problems besides contractual problems, observed a senior official.