Upper Indravati Lift Canal Project – Department of Water Resources , Government of Odisha

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Upper Indravati Lift Canal Project

Problem

• The scarcity of water has also affected the district’s agricultural production and economy in the past.
• The lands which are at higher elevations remain unprivileged from irrigation.
• The problem of land acquisition while implementing irrigation projects.
• Loss of irrigation water in terms of seepage loss and evaporation loss in the canal.
• The farmers of this area were unaware of crop diversification as they only knew cultivating.

Solution

• Constructed Lift Canal System, which lifts water from the Hati balancing reservoir to supply water to lands at a higher elevation 
• Adopted an underground pipeline for the supply of irrigation water to reduce land acquisition and save construction time.
• Spread awareness among farmers regarding growing cash crops in the Rabi season, about the project and the optimal water use for irrigation.
• Aware the farmers of the “Secha Samadhan” mobile app and availed complaint registers at block and GP levels for entering water issues in the field. 
• Adopted SCADA and PLC for water distribution and facilitated Sarkar Cell offline and online to receive issues related to the canal water supply.

Outcomes

• Created Irrigation Potential of 25275 Ha and nearly 40,000 farmers are currently benefiting from Upper Indravati Lift Canal System.
• Provided Irrigation water for Khariff and Rabi in four blocks of Kalahandi district.
• This Project involves no rehabilitation issues as it is a canal project and the least land is acquired for the project.
• It is encouraging upland farmers to shift from high-duty paddy crops to cash crops to achieve more crops per drop
• The approach road along the right bank of the canal is also being used by the villagers to commute on a daily basis.

Challenges

• During construction, people did not allow the dumping of excavated soil at nearby govt. land
• In some places, local people could not fix outlet points in their fields. 
• Local people were not allowed to lay underground pipelines in their fields in some places. 
• The theft of materials from sites was another challenge.
• Completing the project within the limited time frame.

Innovation

• This project is also compatible with micro-irrigation equipment for optimal usage of water due to pressurized irrigation and high residual head at the outlet level
• The project provided precast outlets instead of the construction of conventional outlets.
• This project involves a distribution network of up to 4 ha chak, which can be modified into 1 ha chak
• DGPS survey was implemented in this project which helped in completing the survey works on time
• A mobile App, “Secha Samadhan,” developed by Govt. of Odisha under the guidance of OCAC, has been available to receive complaints and resolve issues.

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Case Study

Upper Indravati Lift Canal Project 

Summary 

Odisha is an agriculture-centric state. The majority of its population depend on agriculture for their livelihood. Considering the situation, two main canals-Right main Canal and the Left main Canal of Hati Barrage, were constructed to supply the water for irrigation purposes. Though these canals successfully fulfill their purpose in the Kalahandi district, still the highland areas remain unprivileged. To overcome the crisis, the Department of Water Resources (DoWR) Government of Odisha has taken up Upper Indravati Lift Canal Project to irrigate the elevated lands of four blocks of Kalahandi District under the lift canal system.

Problems

Before the project’s implementation, water scarcity affected the agricultural production and economy of the district in the past. The lands which are at higher elevations remain unprivileged from irrigation. There was a problem of land acquisition for channelizing any canal facility and the farmers of the area were unaware about crop diversification as they were only doing cultivation. Loss of irrigation water in terms of seepage loss and evaporation loss in the canal was prevalent. So, there was a need for crop diversification.

Solutions

Awareness programmes are conducted at all the block headquarters to aware the farmers about the project and the optimal use of water for irrigation. The farmers are made aware of the mobile app “Secha Samadhan “ for intimating water issues in the field for quick action. Complaint registers are provided at the block level and GP level for incoming water issues in the field and the field officers are regularly in touch with these points to take immediate action. Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) and PLC (Programmable Logic Controller) are adopted in the project for the distribution of water which works round the clock. Separate dedicated persons are engaged shift-wise 24×7. Apart from this, Mo Sarkar Cell is functioning offline and online to receive issues related to the canal water supply and other issues related to Water Resources Department. For the smooth functioning of this, one staff is engaged as a nodal officer in addition to his own duty. Also the Right to Information Cell is functioning very well for effective implementation.

Outcomes

This project increased the irrigation potential by bringing cultivable uplands into the ambit of irrigation.  Due to the completion of the project in the scheduled period, the farmers are getting early benefits of irrigation as compared to other major projects. This Project involves no rehabilitation issues as it is a canal project and least land is acquired for the project, and there is no physical displacement of people for the project. It encourages upland farmers to shift from high-duty paddy crops to cash crops to achieve more crops per drop and strengthen farmers’ economic stability. The project irrigates high-elevation land in 88 villages benefitting 40,000 farmers in the Kalahandi district. It involves farmers in project Operation, Maintenance. As a result, Socio-economically backward farmers residing along both sides of the upland areas are getting irrigation water.

Challenges

During construction, people did not allow the dumping of excavated soil at nearby govt. Land. In some places, local people did not allow fixing outlet points in their fields or laying underground pipelines in their fields.  Theft of materials from sites was another challenge that hampered the implementation of the project.

Innovation

This project is equipped with automation through SCADA (Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition) and PLC (Programmable Logic Controller) for the distribution of water. Due to pressurized irrigation and high residual head at the outlet level, this project is also compatible with micro irrigation equipment for optimal water usage. This project involves a distribution network of up to 4 ha chak, which can be modified into 1 ha chak. DGPS survey was implemented in this project which helped complete the work on time. The design and Engineering team used to visit the site regularly to collect field data, to sort out the concerns raised by clients and give on-site training to staff deputed in this project. Awareness programs are conducted at all the block headquarters to inform the farmers about the project and the optimal water use for irrigation. A WhatsApp group has been formed to receive complaints from farmers and resolve issues and a mobile App, “Secha Samadhan,” is developed by Govt. of Odisha under the guidance of OCAC to receive complaints and resolve issues.

Opportunities

As this type of Project involves no rehabilitation issues as it is a canal project and least land is acquired for the project, and there is no physical displacement of people for the project, now Govt. of Odisha is implementing this type of project in other districts as well.

For more information, please contact:
Mr ANIL KUMAR PANIGRAHI, CHIEF CONSTRUCTION ENGINEER, UPPER INDRAVATI IRRIGATION PROJECT at cceuip1987@gmail.com

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