Three weeks after water release, Odisha's Indravati embankment breached

BHAWANIPATNA: Breach in the newly-constructed Indravati Mega Lift canal flooded paddy crops on more than 100 acre of land in Koksara block of the district in the early hours of Saturday.

Sources said, a small breach eventually broke a large portion of the embankment near Majhiguda village, leading to siltation in more than 20 acre of paddy field. The damaged portion was about 10 feet in width. 
Built at a cost of `986.71 crore, the Indravati lift irrigation project was dedicated to the state by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on January 14 and water was released in the mega lift canal for the first time for irrigation on July 8.

The incident happened hours before a team of senior officials, led by Chief Secretary Suresh Chandra Mohapatra, reached the district to review development projects. Though exact reason behind the breach was yet to be ascertained, locals attributed it to substandard construction of canal embankments and linings. The canal was in spate following incessant rains that battered the district recently.

A team of revenue officials led by the Koksara tehsildar visited the spot to assess the damage. The officials assured that the affected villagers will be compensated as per rules.  Chief construction engineer of Indravati project Bibhusharan Mishra, executive engineer of lift canal system Kondol Rao, representatives of L&T which executed the project and other officials visited the spot to ascertain the cause of breach.

“We are investigating what could be the possible reasons that led to the breach. As per agreement, the constructing agency will look after the maintenance for five years. The entire stretch of the embankment will be inspected once again,” said Rao. The mega lift project is targeted to benefit 88 villages under Koksara block of Kalahandi by providing irrigation to 25,274 hectare of land during the current kharif season.