Rs 6,050 cr to irrigate 10 lakh ha in five years

Bhubaneswar: Though the impact of El Nino on monsoon in Odisha is unlikely to be significant this season, the State government has drawn a long-term plan to counter its effects in the forthcoming seasons by investing heavily in the irrigation sector.

While it aims to provide irrigation facilities in 10 lakh hectare of land in next five years, plans are there to irrigate 2.4 lakh hectare through mega lift-irrigation programmes (MLIPs).

“A sum of Rs 6,050 crore will be spent on the entire project for which physical work started last year,” Water Resources secretary Pradeep Jena said here today.

Stating that the government aims to complete the project in 2019-20, he said tenders have been invited for 102 projects under eight clusters.

“By next March, the government hopes to see completion of irrigation facilities in 35,000 hectare of land from two clusters, tender of which was awarded last year,” Jena further said.

Official sources said the State government had provided irrigation facilities to 1.33 lakh hectare of agricultural land in 2014-15.