Subernarekha water to irrigate 6,000 hectares in Orissa by mid-2010

The Subernarekha Multipurpose Project (SMP) which is an inter-state irrigation project conceived in 1970 by the Bihar government with funds from the World Bank, is likely to be partly functional by the middle of 2010 when the 56-km canal now in final stages of construction will be operational by releasing water to irrigate at least 6,000 hectares of land in Orissa.

According to SMP sources, the Jharkhand government is likely to hand over the canal to Orissa government in the middle of next year. The Orissa government has started construction of three reservoirs to store surplus water to irrigate more lands.

The SMP project was envisaged to irrigate first the fields of Jharkhand farmers which is presently under severe drought condition. While the dam and barrage were completed in the early 1990s, work on canals connected to the main reservoir at Chandil was stuck as the forest clearance for construction along the Dalma Wildlife Sanctuary, near Jamshedpur was denied by the concerned ministry. As a result several kilometers of incomplete canals lie scattered throughout the state.

The initial cost of the SMP was estimated at Rs 3,000 crore, but gradually the cost went up manifold. The original plan of the SMP was to erect a dam on the Kharkai at Chandil, near Jamshedpur and a barrage at Galudih to supply water to Jharkhand, Orissa and West Bengal using the canals.