DROUGHT
PRONE TRIBAL AREA OF ORISSA GETS A MAJOR IRRIGATION PROJECT AT
KANUPUR IN KEONJHAR DISTRICT
The drought
affected State of Orissa got the approval for a major reservoir
in its tribal area of Keonjhar. This project was pending since
long and it got the financial approval from the Planning Commission,
which would be to the tune of Rs. 428.32 crores. This project
is expected to be completed before 2008-2009. The Minister for
Water Resources, Shri Arjun Charan Sethi mentioned that the project
has already been included in the State Annual Plan. The project
at Kanupur will be a major irrigation project in Orissa on river
Baitarani, estimated to irrigate 47,709 hectares annually. The
project consists of an earth dam of 3247 metres long with a maximum
height of 39 meters across the river Baitarani and will have the
storage capacity of 331 Million Cu. Meters. Shri Sethi also said
that though the project has been cleared by the Ministry of Environment
& Forest to maintain the ecology, a green belt of 500 meters
in the forest and 50 meters in non-forest area will be developed
to compensate the loss. The rehabilitation of the people in the
submerged area has also been taken care of in the said project
and necessary clearance has been taken from the Ministry of Welfare.
