Jamshedpur MP Bidyut raises issue of Murakati branch canal in Parliament

Jamshedpur, Dec 14: Jamshedpur MP Bidyut Baran Mahato raised the issue of important irrigation scheme of East Singhbhum district during the zero period in the Parliament. 

He said that the technical approval of the sixth revised estimate of the project for the construction of Murakati branch canal under the Prime Minister’s Irrigation Swarnarekha Multipurpose Project was given by the Central Water Commission, New Delhi’s letter no. 447-56 dated 06.09.2019 under FTPC, the amount of which Rs 14949.744 crores. This approval was given only after the recommendation of the Water Resources Department, Government of Jharkhand, Ranchi. Revised administrative approval of Rs 12849.46 crore has been given by Water Resources Department Ranchi’s letter no. 1/PMC/Work-996/2017-46/2021, P.V., dated 19.03.2021. In the same sequence, the Murkati branch canal, which is a major component of the Swarnarekha project, was not given administrative approval by the state government for its construction. The irrigation potential of Murakati branch canal emanating from km 29.83 of Kharkai right main canal is 14,122 hectares. This area basically comes under Gudabandha, Potka, Musabani, Ghatshila blocks. On the one hand, after acquiring 650 hectares of land from the farmers of the same area, by constructing the Galudih right main canal, irrigation water is being supplied to Odisha since 2012, on the other hand, the Jharkhand government is depriving the farmers of Ghatshila and Potka assembly constituencies from irrigation facilities. Whereas the construction work of the top structure of Kharkai Barrage at Ghajia has been completed in the year 2020. The entire command area of Murakati branch canal is located in my constituency (Jamshedpur).

“I request the Ministry of Jal Shakti, Government of India to ensure the construction of the Murakati branch canal, which is a major part of the FTPC approved by the Government of India, so that the farmers of my Parliamentary Jamshedpur, who are mainly of tribal and scheduled caste categories get the benefit of irrigation,” said Mahato in the Parliament.