Bhubaneswar: The Odisha government is proposing to launch a Rs 11,713.22 crore project to set up a series of barrages across major rivers to conserve rain water. The government has identified 40 spots across river Mahanadi, Brahmani, Baitarani and Rushikulya for the In-Stream Storage Structures (ISS)
The In-Stream Storage Structures which would come up over a period of six years from 2019-20 to 2024-25 will be more people friendly as these are not going to displace people and more eco-friendly at it would not submerge farm land and forests.
” Under the proposed scheme it is intended to construct approximately 40 In-Stream Storage Structures on different streams of various river basins such as Rushikulya, Brahmani, Biatarani and Mahanadi etc., ” said the draft memorandum prepared by the State water resources department.
The State water resources department has shared the draft memorandum with additional chief secretaries of revenue and forest & environment department and principal secretaries of finance, agriculture, panchyati raj, and housing and urban development, secretary fisheries & animal resources development and special secretary planning and convergence department.
The water resources department, in its 14-page memorandum has stated that despite abundance of rainfall and rivers, often during peak summer months ranging from March to June, several parts of the State are faced with shortage of water. There is an urgent need to conserve the run-off water to meet the non-monsoon requirements”, it added.
“It is therefore essential and about time to construct ISS to utilise water by creation of water bodies along the river for the difference surface water harvesting purposes”, the memorandum points out adding,”Such storage structures shall help to recharge the ground water and help to the partial routing of flood by delaying the minimum sizes flood peaks.”
