Prominent residents from Kendrapara and Jajpur district here on Monday staged demonstration demanding revival of 9-km-long water diversion channel project to reduce impact of flood caused by the over-flowing Brahmani River during monsoon.
Under the banner of ‘Janmanch’, residents urged the government to start construction of water channel so that people, who live under constant threat of flood, could live calmly.
“Brahmani River travels 35-km long from Olabha to Dhamara mouth in Kendrapara district before falling into the Bay of Bengal. During floods, excess water from Kharasrota and Baitarani Rivers makes the matter worse by slowing down discharge of Brahmani River into the sea,” said Duryadhan Parida, convenor of Janmanch.
Mr. Parida said: “Instead of allowing Brahmani water travel menacingly along 35-km-long stretch, a 9-km-long diversion channel from Madanpur to Barunei Mouth will help flush out flood water to sea.”
“The project of diverting flood water from Madanpur is more than five-decade old. In fact, over 550 acres of land was acquired after 1962 when the project was conceived. When the project did not progress, villagers started cultivation on the acquired land,” he said.
The Janmanch convenor pointed out that during 2011 flood, more than 21 lakh people were affected in Jajpur and Kendrapara districts and the over-flowing Brahmani River had caused extensive damage.
“If the State government revives the project, it will not have to go for fresh land acquisition. The project would lessen flood threat over sizeable chunk of population residing on both sides of downstream of Brahmani,” he said.
The Janamanch claimed to have conducted 70 awareness camps during past four years for revival of the project, but the State government was not paying heed.
