Following is an excerpt from a report in Business Standard.
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 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.
Following is an excerpt on this from a report in Telegraph.
… Subernarekha is an inter-state river flowing through Jharkhand, Orissa and Bengal. Under this agreement, water will be shared by the three states in the ratio of 71 per cent, 27 per cent and 2 per cent respectively.
On the Jharkhand side, construction of the Chandili dam and Galudih barrage on the upstream of Subernarekha and 90 per cent earthwork has been completed, officials in the state water resources department said.
However, this inter-state irrigation project is still incomplete as the Jambhira barrage and canal system on Jharkhand-Orissa border is yet to be completed. A sum of Rs 140 crore was spent on the construction of the barrage and canal during 2006-07. An estimated Rs 253 crore will be spent this year, said state water resources secretary Aurobindo Behera. Of it, Orissa will provide Rs 105 crore to Jharkhand this fiscal to complete work on its side. The project from Jharkhand is expected to be complete by December 31, 2008, so that Orissa is able to get irrigation water, said Behera. So far, construction of a 46km canal on Orissa side has been completed and the project is expected to be commissioned by 2009-10.
An estimated Rs 3,500 crore will be required for completion of the project, out of which Rs 1,756 crore will be made available under Accelerated Irrigation Benefit Programme of Central government. Orissa has so far spent Rs 466 crore on the project, said the EIC.
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