Mahanadi Chitrotpala Island Irrigation Project – Department of Water Resources , Odisha

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Mahanadi Chitrotpala Island Irrigation Project

Problem

• Providing irrigation to Mahanadi – Chitrotpala island at the deltaic plain was challenging 
• The people of the area spread over 64 villages were deprived of irrigation benefits 
• Aligning the canals in a low-lying area of the island area and subsequent networking of minors and sub-minors in the low-level deltaic plain. 
• A lot of structural interventions required to be done due to the drainage network of the island area
• High seepage loss and evaporation loss in the canal.

Problem

• Canal alignments are fixed along two river lines and a network of minors and sub-minors are aligned up to valley points.
• The Court Cases were streamlined & in some places, forces were deployed for the evacuation of illegal occupants from Govt. land.
• For canal embankments, the earth is collected from borrowed areas outside the island area, as most people reluctant to dig earth from their low-level lands
• Due to the valley network, RCC structures are constructed more in numbers, like Aqueducts, open troughs, cut and cover conduits and Canal siphons 
• For crossing of canals in the highly populated deltaic areas, quite a large number of VRBs, footbridges numbering 92 nos are taken up

Outcomes

• Irrigation provided 6404.25 Ha of agricultural lands in 64 villages of 4 blocks of 3 districts
• A huge number of cross-drainages were constructed, and 92 bridges were constructed to facilitate canal construction and the movement of local people.
• Odisha bagged the Krushi Karman award for food grain production five times and the agriculture leadership award in 2022.
• Pani panchayats will be formed to hand over the project’s operation and maintenance of minors and sub-minors after trial irrigation.
• The communication network improved to a greater extent by constructing canal embankment roads.

Challenges

• There were Court cases in acquired Land acquisition, and landholders were reluctant to leave the lands
• Non-availability of good earth for canal embankment construction, so the earth was collected outside the embankment area.
• After the land acquisition, some people did not allow to take over those lands.
• Locals demanded more bridge constructions across the canal; in some places, locals did not allow outlet points in their fields to be fixed.
• People did not allow the dumping of excavated soil on nearby government land during the construction of structures

Innovation

• The canal embankments and 92 nos of connecting bridges provide year-round movement of local people of the island area.
• Many RCC structures like open troughs, cut & cover conduits and duck-bill weir have been constructed.
• Providing road networking on canal embankments and bridges is a boon to island habitats.
• During the Kharif season, farmers are consulted for proper water utilization to get maximum yield.
• The alignment of the canal was made in such a way so that land acquisitions from private entities are less.

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Case Study

Mahanadi Chitrotpala Island Irrigation Project 

Summary 

Mahanadi Chitrotpala Island Irrigation Project aimed to irrigate an Ayacut of 15342Ha, in 1st phase of 8937 Ha. An irrigation facility was provided in 2004. Subsequently, to provide irrigation to balance 6404 Ha, the work restarted in 2018 with the ADB loan assistance scheme and the state’s own fund. The MCII project was completed in March-2022 with a project cost of Rs.111 Cr. This much-awaited project was dedicated By Hon’ble CM on 18.05.2022 for providing irrigation to 64 villages of Kendrapara, Cuttack & Jagatsinghpur districts. The farmers expressed their gratitude & satisfaction. A commitment by Odisha Government got completed on time – A dream come true- A boon to Farmers

Problems

It was a very challenging task to align the canals in the island area and subsequent networking of minors and sub-minors in the low-level deltaic plain. The people of the area in 64 villages spread over full blocks of 3 districts, namely Kendrapara, Cuttack and Jagatsinghpur, have been deprived of irrigation benefits since the inception of this project, i.e., the year 2004. A lot of structural interventions were required due to the island area’s drainage network.

Solutions

Due to constant persuasion & local meetings along with the help of district administration patch wise canal works have been taken up with the assistance of the Govt. in DoWR, the Court Cases were streamlined & in some places, forces were deployed for the evacuation of illegal occupants from Govt. land. The agencies were also given protection during the execution of work. Since the valley networks are predominant, a huge number of cross-drainages were constructed and 92 bridges were constructed to facilitate canal construction and the movement of local people. Canal alignments are fixed along two river lines and a network of minors and sub-minors are aligned up to valley points. For canal embankments, the earth is collected from borrowed areas outside island areas, as most people are reluctant to dig earth from their low-level lands. Due to the valley network, RCC structures are constructed more in numbers, like Aqueducts, open troughs, cut and cover conduits and Canal siphons.

Outcomes

The project was completed in March 2022 with the construction of 71.57 Km of the canal system, mammoth 92 nos of bridges, and 97 cross drainage structures. This project provides irrigation to 785.08 Ha in the Cuttack district, 608 Ha in the Jagatsinghpur district and 5011.17 Ha in the Kendrapara district, totaling to 6404.25 Ha. The local people were highly grateful and satisfied to witness the success of the project and thanked the state government for its commitment which they had ever dreamed of. The canal embankments and 92 nos of connecting bridges provided the year-round movement of local people of the island area.

Challenges

Land acquisition issues, court cases, and & habitation in the acquired area made it difficult to take up the project as a whole. Even during the working period, arranging the earth for the Canal embankment beyond the island area was challenging. The survey & aligning of the Canal network was difficult due to inaccessible sites. The nonavailability of good earth for canal embankment construction posed a challenge, so the earth was collected outside the embankment area. After the land acquisition, some people were not allowed to take over those lands, and locals demanded more bridge constructions across the canal at some places; locals were not allowed to fix outlet points in their fields. People did not even allow the dumping of excavated soil at nearby government land during the construction of structures which hampered the smooth implementation of the project.

Innovation

The canal embankments and 92 nos of connecting bridges provide year-round movement of local people of the island area. Many RCC structures like open troughs, cut & cover conduits and duck-bill weir have been constructed. This project provided road networking on canal embankments and bridges, a boon to island habitats. Farmers are consulted for proper water utilization during the Kharif season to get maximum yield. The canal’s alignment was made so that land acquisitions from private entities are less.

Opportunities

The department plans to extend Chitrotpala right branch canal from the present tail (RD 27.14 km) to irrigate an area of about 700 Ha up to the Patkura block. This methodology can be adopted in low-level deltaic areas and such types of island projects.

For more information, please contact:
Mr Sagar Mohanty, Chief Engineer & Basin Manager at seeccuttack@gmail.com

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