Dredging of River Mouth – Department of Water Resources, Odisha, Drainage Circle, Cuttack

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DREDGING OF RIVER MOUTH

Problem

• Water Logging of vast agricultural land in the coastal District of Odisha, Jagatsinghpur.
• Submergence of agricultural fields during Khariff Crop for more than thirty days.
• Poor drainage causes crop loss and reduced crop yield, thereby hampering the economic stand of the farmers.
• Access to the Bay of Bengal for fishing activities by local fishermen is being hampered.
• Resolve the water logging area of about 7000 Ha of agricultural land

Solutions

• The river mouth was opened to the sea, the Bay of Bengal, by dredging the pre-existing alignment of the Natural Stream.
• The excavated materials were disposed of away from the alignment by pumping and conveying through pipe networks up to a distance of one kilometer.
• A designed section for the quick discharge of stormwater has been constructed.
• Solving the water logging problem of 7000 Ha of agricultural land in Erasama Block of Jagatsinghpur District.
• Preventing crop loss and substantially increasing crop yield.

Outcomes

• Retrieval of agricultural land of about 385 Ha.
• Reducing the submergence period from 5 days to seven days.
• Increase in crop yield. 
• Reducing the submergence period from 5 days to seven days.
• Benefitting the farmers to a great extent.

Challenges

• Obtaining CRZ clearance from MOEF, Government of India.
• Disposal area in the locality.
• Movement and working of the machinery during high tides.
• Disposal of huge quantum of excavated earth.
• The project execution got delayed while getting clearance from the Ministry of Environment and Forest, Government of India.

Innovation

• River mouth dredging in the Bay of Bengal.
• Providing better access to the sea for fishermen.

• Redressal of water logging problem in seven villages of Erasama Block in the District of Jagatsinghpur.
• Reclamation of 385 Ha of agricultural land from complete water logging.
• Opening of the river mouth to the Bay of Bengal has been taken up for the first time.

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Case Study

Dredging of River Mouth

Summary

Odisha is a  coastal state with more than 485 km of coastline and is destined to drain a geographical area of 1,55,707 sq km, Extremely flat terrain along the coastal belt, aided with more than 1400 mm of annual rainfall, makes these land patches perennially vulnerable to water logging, frequent flooding, long stagnating water pockets resulting in eutrophication and hyacinth nuisance.  The State of Odisha has made its endeavor to mitigate this challenge in a mission mode since the year 2000, and significant achievements have already become visible in terms of land reclamation, drainage de-congestion, lesser duration of standing water period with reduced frequency in the agricultural lands resulting in reduced crop loss. This project is related to the Drainage Sector of Water Resources of the State of Odisha. The project is a part of the “Drainage Improvement Program” of the Department of Water Resources, Odisha benefitting the command area’s farmers in the State’s coastal Districts. The Project has been implemented to resolve the water logging area of about 7000 Ha of agricultural land.

Problems

Water Logging of vast agricultural land in the coastal District of Odisha, Jagatsinghpur, posed as a problem. Also, the agricultural fields during Kharif Crop got submerged for more than thirty days. Poor drainage led to crop loss and reduced crop yield, thereby hampering the economic stand of the farmers. Access to the Bay of Bengal for fishing activities by local fishermen is being hampered. The river mouth of Hansua DC, named Jatadhari Muhan, has been closed for a long with heavy sand casting and sand dunes resulting in the poor release of stormwater to sea. The area nearer to sea in Erasama Block of Jagatsinghpur District remains submerged for weeks together during the rainy season with poor Drainage of accumulated stormwater due to the very flat terrain of the area.

Solutions

The river mouth was opened to the sea, Bay of Bengal, by dredging the pre-existing alignment of the natural stream. The excavated materials were disposed of away from the alignment by pumping and conveying through pipe networks up to a distance of one kilometer. As open excavation was not feasible, underwater excavation was adopted by way of deploying suction dredgers. The excavated materials were pumped through pipelines to adequate distances of more than one kilometer so that the materials do not flow back and enter into the stream again.

Outcome

The work has been implemented under the “Drainage Improvement Program, “an innovative idea of the Government of Odisha under the Department of Water Resources. The Project has a major thrust in reducing the water logging problems of the command area in coastal districts. This reduces the submergence period. The crop loss will be prevented and the crop yield will also increase substantially, benefitting the locality’s farmers. A retrieval of agricultural land of about 385 Ha. was done. Also, emphasis was given on reducing the submergence period from 5 days to seven days. The project cost is Rs.629 lakhs including all incidental charges. Necessary CRZ clearance was obtained from MoEF, Government of India, in November 2022.

Challenges

To implement the Project, CRZ clearance was required from the Ministry of Environment and Forest, Government of India. This delayed the execution of the work. Even though the Date of Commencement was May 2021, the actual execution started in December 2022 after clearance of the CRZ proposal in November 2022. For disposal of a huge quantum of excavated earth, private land to the extent of 37.76 acres was arranged as the nearby land was with Forest Department, where dumping was prohibited. Working hours of the machinery were hampered by high tides occurring at repeated intervals.

Innovation

Under the “Drainage Improvement Program” implemented by the Government of Odisha, this project has been the first of its kind in the District of Jagatsinghpur, situated near the Bay of Bengal. Opening of the river mouth to the Bay of Bengal has been taken up for the first time to reduce and resolve the water logging problem in the locality.

Opportunities

Project observations will be carried out in the future for five or more years on the functioning of the work. Similar projects will be taken up in other coastal areas to derive such benefits in the coming days.

For more information, please contact:
Mr Dillip Kumar Rout, Additional Chief Engineer at sedrainagecirclectc@gmail.com

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