BHUBANESWAR: Chief minister Naveen Patnaik has sought cooperation of his Jharkhand counterpart Hemant Soren for early completion of the Ichha dam over Kharkhai river in Jharkhand for the benefit of farmers of both the states.
“I would like to bring to your kind notice that the Subarnarekha irrigation project of Odisha will be able to utilize its full irrigation potential only after completion of the Ichha dam by the government of Jharkhand. I am happy to know that Jharkhand has taken up the Ichha dam construction work recently,” Naveen wrote.
The chief minister said his government will extend cooperation for the dam’s construction and reimburse Odisha’s share of expenses over time.
The state will bear 26.46% of the construction cost. Against an estimated share of Rs 1,208 crore (as per 2016 calculations), the state government has so far paid Rs 1,026.91 crore to the Jharkand government, said Naveen adding as many as 36 villages in Odisha have been affected due to submergence owing to the dam.
“Accordingly, land acquisition and rehabilitation and resettlement work in Odisha have been taken up. As of now, 5,196 acres of land (98%) out of 5,283 acres have already been acquired. Rehabilitation assistance has been paid to 1,268 project-affected people out of the total identified 1,369 affected, which is about 93%,”
Naveen wrote. Naveen said water on Chandil dam across river Subarnarekha is getting stored up to 181.50 metres of the reservoir level during monsoon as against the full capacity of 192 metres. This, Naveen said, is resulting in a flood situation in Odisha.
The Subarnarekha multipurpose project was taken up for utilization of water resources of Subarnarekha-Kharkhai basin as per the tripartite agreement made in 1978 among erstwhile Bihar (now Jharkhand), Odisha and West Bengal.