BHUBANESWAR: The state government on Friday inked a MoU with the national bank for agriculture and rural development (NABARD) to take up an ambitious ground water recharge project in 15 water-stressed districts.
The Rs 1150 crore project will be taken up in Bargarh, Balangir, Boudh, Gajapati, Kalahanadi, Kandhamal, Keonjhar, Koraput,
Malkangiri, Mayurbhanj, Nuapada, Nabarangpur, Rayagada, Sambalpur and Sonepur districts.
“I am glad that the department of water resources signed agreement with Nabard to implement country’s first project from
Green Climate Fund (GCF)” Naveen Patnaik, who chaired the MoU signing ceremony, said.
The South Korea-based Green Climate Fund would fund Rs 240 crore for the project through NABARD while around Rs 860 crore will be sourced from Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) fund. The state government will arrange the remaining amount though convergence funding, official sources said.
As part of the programme, over 10,000 existing ponds will be renovated in accordance with a design prepared by the state water resources department from MGNREGS fund for storage of adequate rain water.
“Apart from renovation and improvement of 10,000 ponds, the project envisages providing recharge shafts (recharge structures) within the pond to augment ground water resources,” said state water resources secretary P K
Jena.
The state government has targeted to recharge the ground water over 1.65 lakh acre feet under the project to be completed within a period of five years,
Jena said 1,000 deep bore wells with solar pumping based micro-irrigation system will be developed.
The water resources secretary said the state government has submitted the proposal before the GCF to address adverse impact if
climate change in water sector.
The technical staffs at the block and panchayat headquarters will be trained to ensure that the recharge shafts are developed properly for the project.
The water resources department would also appoint two ‘Jal Sathi’ volunteers for each pond, who would be trained to measure the ground water level and teach people about judicious utilization of water.
