NABARD sanctions Rs 1,134.74-cr RIDF assistance for Odisha

National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) has sanctioned RIDF assistance of Rs 1,134.74 crore for Odisha. The sanctioned amount included Rs 1,040.96 crore for two important mega projects for drinking water and lift irrigation in the state, an official release said. With this, the cumulative sanction to the state during the current fiscal has increased to Rs 1,845.70 crore.

The mega drinking water supply project in fluoride affected blocks of Nuapada district, involving RIDF assistance of Rs 543.63 crore, envisages supply of 100 litres per capita per day (lpcd) of drinking water to 1.20 lakh families in the blocks like Sinapali, Boden, Khariar, Komna and Nuapada of Nuapada district, the release said. The project would help people to get safe drinking water and protection from fluorosis due to contamination of fluoride in ground water, it added. To assist the state government in achieving 35 percent of assured irrigation in all deficit blocks in the state, NABARD has also sanctioned 19 Mega Lift projects in Cluster-III, involving a RIDF assistance of Rs 497.33 crore.

These projects envisage providing assured Kharif irrigation to about 24,000 hectare of agriculture uplands in the districts of Sambalpur, Bargarh, Bolangir and Jharsuguda. These projects would help in increasing the irrigation potential in Ambabhona, Ghaislet, Jharsuguda, Kolabira, Lakhanpur, Rengali, Kuchinda and Agalpur blocks. Modern techniques of distributing water through underground pipes, minimising the evaporation and seepage loss as compared to traditional flow irrigation, were being adopted under these projects, NABARD said.

As part of its commitment for the development of critical rural connectivity in the state, NABARD has also sanctioned seven roads and one bridge projects. The road and bridge projects would be implemented in the districts of Koraput, Nuapada, Ganjam and Sambalpur, among others. The sanction of road and bridge projects involved a RIDF assistance of Rs 93.77 crore, which would help develop 100 km of road and 92 m of bridge, the release added.