The decision of the State Government to bring Rushikulya river water to Brahmapur by pipeline at a cost of Rs415 crore instead of the existing open canal system has been welcomed by BJP leader and former Assembly Deputy Speaker Rama Chandra Panda as a right one, though belated.
Panda had launched a “Jala Sanjog Yatra” demanding Rushikulya-Mahanadi river linking in February 2010 when hundreds of women marched on barefoot from Kasinagar to the Raj Bhavan in Bhubaneswar. He had also staged a dharna before the RDC office here in January 2011 demanding early execution of the Chhelligada water scheme and Janabilla-Brahmapur piped water scheme to meet the water crisis in Brahmapur, Chhatrapur and Gopalpur.
In fact, originally the Janibilla-Brahmapur water scheme was conceived when late Mohan Nayak was the Minister for Urban Development at a cost of Rs15 crore. Now, the cost has escalated by 28 times to Rs415 crore. After Mohan Nayak, no political party or leader tried to keep the proposal alive. However, Panda thereafter spearheaded the agitation and kept the project alive through a series of programmes and submitted several memorandums to the concerned authorities for execution of the project.
While welcoming the Government present decision, Panda said there should be a timeframe to complete the project.