BJD to blame for poor management of river waters: Cong

The Odisha Congress today slammed the BJD government for poor management of river water which is leading to farmers' suicide in the state.

The state government is planning many projects for irrigating farm land and spending thousands of crores, but farmers are committing suicide because of crop failure, Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee (OPCC) president Niranjan Patnaik said in a statement.

He said Chhattisgarh has constructed several barrages and dams over Mahanadi river due to which Odisha may become a dry state in the near future.

During 2015-16, farmers were heavily burdened because of crop loss in many parts of the state as there was deficit rain and drought-like situation, the OPCC chief said adding 27 of the 30 districts of the state were affected.

To tackle the situation, a number of deep borewells are being dug at different parts. But those are not able to irrigate the affected areas. Many farmers faced crop loss and could not repay loan and committed suicide, he claimed.

During October 2016, a report submitted to the state government had mentioned that 41 farmers had committed suicide.

A government report states that Rs 7,727 crore had been spent during 2016-17 for irrigation projects. It was hiked to Rs 9,216 crore in 2017-18 and in 2018-19 the projected expenditure is Rs 10,196 crore, Patnaik said.

The PCC chief also sought to know if the state government is prepared to face the situation in case a drought like condition arises this year.