Nearly 74.19 per cent of the total irrigation capacity of Chhattisgarh is now being utilised for kharif crops, which is far better than many other States of the country, officials informed.
Presently, Chhattisgarh has availability of water supply sufficient for irrigation of nearly 1.10 lakh hectare of land. During Kharif and Rabi season, 67 per cent of the total irrigation capacity of state is utilised.
A decade back, water supply for irrigation of only 11,000 hectare was available during Rabi season. Now the capacity has expanded by 10 times.
The State Government has facilitated water-supply to agricultural farms through its eight big, 35 medium and 2,390 small irrigation schemes. Construction of Anicuts and stop dams has proved beneficial for drinking water supply, irrigation, effluents and groundwater conservation.
The Government has also given preference to construction of Anicuts and stop dams on rivers and ponds. Till date, as many as 383 Anicuts have been constructed on various rivers of the State. Presently, construction of eight big, four medium and 343 small irrigation schemes is in progress. 325 new Anicuts are also under construction.
The State Government has set the goal to develop additional irrigation capacity of nearly four lakh hectare area in next four years. From 12th to 19th phase of NABARD Scheme, total 29 projects have been completed to add up 19,748 hectares to irrigation capacity of the State.
Betterment of farmers is simply not possible without the expansion of irrigation facilities. The State Government has always taken it as its priority to ensure proper utilization of water-resources for expanding total area of irrigated land in state.
As a result of several measures, the irrigation capacity of Chhattisgarh has increased from 20 per cent to 34.20 per cent. During Kharif season, the actual irrigated area in the State expanded from 5.35 lakh hectare to 11.70 lakh hectare.
Out of the six barrages under construction at Mahanadi river for industrial purpose, construction of Samoda and Mirauni barrages are at final stage of completion. Top works of Kelo extensive irrigation project in Raigarh have been already completed. This project has enabled irrigation of 23,000 hectares.
This year, Rs 50 crore has been provisioned for modernization and expansion of the Hasdeo Bango project in Korba district. Hasdeo Bango Project is a multipurpose extensive irrigation project. Entire construction works under this project have been completed. As per the scheme, Hasdeo Bango project will enable irrigation facility for 800 villages of Korba, Janjgir-Champa and Raigarh district.
From this project, another project called Arpa-Bhainsajhar extensive project worth Rs 625 crores have also been started, which has created additional irrigation capacity of 25,000 hectare. Rs 10 crore have been provisioned for electricity line extension so as to electrify the irrigation pumps placed in water collection area of 150 Anicuts, constructed for expansion of irrigation capacity.
To encourage micro irrigation, ‘State funded micro irrigation scheme’ has been started. Under this scheme, farmers are granted 75 per cent of the unit cost. Ambitious Kelo Extensive Project of Raigarh district has been completed and action plan is being made to supply water for irrigation of 25,000 hectares.
Moreover, the Kosarteda irrigation water reservoir in tribal populated Bastar area of the State, which was lying under-constructed since long, was eventually completed in June 2008. This scheme created irrigation capacity of 9,500 hectares in tribal areas. Works of Sukhanal barrage, Ghumariyanala barrage, Mohad water reservoir and Pradhanpath barrage schemes are in progress. Karranal barrage project is situated 20 km away from Sahaspur-lohara Block Headquarters of Kabeerdham district.
Presently, the estimated cost of this project is Rs 99 crore. This project is expected to enable water supply for irrigation of 4100 hectares of land. Keeping in view, Naya Raipur Project Area’s demand of drinking water-supply by 2040, two anicuts have been constructed in village Tila and Ravar on River Mahanadi.
An Action plan has been prepared to utilize groundwater sources in Chhattisgarh. At present, 34.87 per cent groundwater is being utilized for agriculture and other works. Under various beneficiary oriented schemes, the State Government has provided irrigation facility for 12 625 hectares area through 2525 tube-wells.
Field channel plays important role in supplying water to fields for irrigation through canals. Using field channel system, wastage of water is prevented through lining. Till date, lining of more than 11 lakh meters has been done in various areas of Chhattisgarh. Mutual Participation Water Management Scheme has been started to ensure participation of farmers in irrigation management. The member farmers of water consumer associations have been entrusted with the responsibility of irrigation management.
In view of long-term development of water resources, master plan of rivers and other water bodies for year 2025 have been prepared. To minimize the gap between developed irrigation capacity and actual irrigation capacity, old irrigation schemes are to be renewed. For which, Chhattisgarh Irrigation Development Project has been started with the aid received from Asian Development Bank.