Bhubaneswar: Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Wednesday said his government is constructing 30 instream storage structures and 16 more are in the pipeline located across different rivers of the state with a budget outlay of about Rs 12,000 crore.
These structures will provide double benefit with conservation of surface water and increase in the ground water table, Patnaik said while addressing an orientation programme of newly recruited 257 junior engineers in the water resources department.
He asked the engineers to work with passion towards the job, with honesty and sensitivity towards the people of the state. He wished them a bright future.
Apart from providing irrigation facilities to the farmers, the water resources department is also responsible for flood management to protect the life and property of the people, he said.
Stating that the state has more than 2,500 dams, he said work for some major dams like Lower Suktel, Kanpur and Ghatkeswar are in progress.
The JEs have a greater role for on-site supervision of new projects as well as operation and maintenance of completed projects and ensuring designed irrigation to agricultural land, he added.
On this occasion, the Chief Minister has launched a procurement management information system PROMISe, which will be used in managing different steps of procurement with up-to-date information, records and status of different work.
Patnaik announced that a comprehensive computer application, water ERP will be launched soon which has been taken up under the 5T Initiative.
This will be highly useful in the overall planning and management of irrigation and flood in an efficient manner on a real time basis, he added.
(IANS)
