The lack of functional irrigation facilities has adversely affected cultivation undertaken by the particularly vulnerable tribal groups (PVTGs).
As PVTG communities largely rely on agriculture for their livelihoods, the failure of irrigation projects has disrupted farming activities, resulting in lower crop yields and greater financial instability. This was revealed in the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) report tabled in the Odisha Assembly on March 31, the last day of the budget session.
“The irrigation projects lacked sustainability to support improved crop production, cultivation of vegetables, winter crops, protection of paddy crop from erratic monsoons etc,” the report said.
Odisha has the highest number of PVTGs in the country. Out of 75 PVTGs identified nationally, 13 belong to Odisha, with a population of 2,94,712 spread across 14 districts of the state.
The Odisha PVTG Empowerment and Livelihoods Improvement Programme (OPELIP), under the SC and ST development department, through micro project agencies (MPAs), executes
various programmes for providing irrigation facilities such as lift and pump irrigation, rainwater harvesting and solar-based irrigation under different schemes in PVTG areas.
During 2019-24, the MPAs created 644 irrigation projects at an expenditure of ₹31.51 crore. Out of these, 83 irrigation projects involving ₹3.91 crore were reported as defunct by the MPAs for periods ranging from three to 36 months, the CAG said. The projects became defunct due to damage caused by individuals, theft of solar panels, drying up of water sources and non-functioning of submersible motors.
As per the report, a joint physical inspection (JPI) was conducted for 40 out of 644 projects in the presence of representatives of the respective MPAs. These included 17 defunct and 23 functional projects. “During JPI, it was found that the 17 defunct projects were lying idle and no action had been taken either by the MPAs or village development committees (VDCs) to operationalise them,” the report said.
Moreover, six out of the 23 projects reported as functional were found to be defunct. These projects were non-functional due to faulty water pumps, damage to pipes and water tanks and dry water sources. “Though the projects were non-operational for more than one year, yet the
MPAs and the concerned VDCs had neither reported these as defunct nor taken any steps for restoration,” the report said.
Audit observed that there was no provision of funds for the repair and maintenance of the irrigation projects. The concerned VDCs or user groups had neither collected user fees nor maintained the irrigation systems, resulting in continued non-functionality. “As such, the arrangement for repair and maintenance of the irrigation projects through collection of user fees from poor PVTGs was not viable, due to which the projects lacked sustainability, with adverse impact on sustenance of the PVTG farmers,” the report said.
It cited the case of farmers of Jagannathpur village under the Soura development agency (SDA), Chandragiri, in Gajapati district, who cultivated cabbage, cauliflower, brinjal and beans. “A solar power project for providing irrigation was completed in September 2022 at a cost of ₹6 lakh. However, the irrigation project became defunct in October 2024 due to lack of repair and maintenance. During the JPI conducted by Audit in November 2024, it was noticed that the cultivated crops were damaged,” it said.
Further, farmers stated that they used to carry water manually from nearby sources due to the non-operation of the irrigation project. “Due to absence of proper arrangements for repair and maintenance, the defunct irrigation projects could not be made operational, resulting in potential water scarcity and impacting agricultural productivity,” the report said.
The CAG also rejected the state government’s claim that all irrigation projects were functional. “The reply regarding functionality of all irrigation projects was not convincing, as 23 out of 40 projects were found non-functional during JPI,” it said.