Conservancy is in the pipeline

The New Indian Express, May 23, 2007

BHUBANESWAR: The Government has decided to launch catchment treatment programme for effective conservation of land, water and vegetation to help eradicate poverty in backward areas of the State. A Catchment Area Management Society would also be formed. This will manage the programmes of different river systems of the State.

In the first phase, catchment area of Upper Indravati Multi-purpose Project has been taken up as it is under serious threat of siltation resulting in reduction of its storage capacity and life span.

Official sources said Rs 170 crore would be spent on the project over a period of seven years. Official sources had warned unless the rot is stemmed the project would lose its utility causing serious socio-economic problems in the backward areas of KBK districts.

The catchment area of Upper Indravati is spread over 2,642 sq km comprising 10 blocks of Kalahandi, Rayagada, Koraput and Nabarangpur districts.

The long-term objectives of the catchment treatment programme is to check forest degradation and loss of bio-diversity, ecological restoration and conservation of environment, integrated land and water management to increase the life span of the reservoir and to minimise siltation and sediment accumulation for enhanced agricultural production.

A project director would be stationed at Koraput to supervise the progress of the project and coordinate the activities of line departments.

There will be a project-level steering committee to be headed by the chief administrator, KBK, and a State-level monitoring committee to be headed by Chief Secretary. The project funds would be transacted through a society.