River Brahamani in Jajpur district. Telegraph picture

Jajpur, Dec. 19: The state government has drawn up a package with an estimated cost of Rs 160 crore to save Brahmani, the lifeline for many villages on its banks in Jajpur and Kendrapara districts, from dying out.

A proposal prepared by the state water resources department has been submitted to the government to give Brahmani, the second largest river of the state a new lease of life. The proposal is expected to get a nod from the government soon, official sources said.

Recently, a high-level engineering team, including state water resources secretary Suresh Chandra Mohapatra, chief engineer (delta and flood control) Baidhar Panda, superintending engineer Basudev Mohapatra and executive engineer Subrat Das jointly inspected the river which has dried up due to massive deposition of silt.

“During our spot visit we found huge sand casting near the Brahmani riverbed at Jenapur following which the flow of water to the river from Jenapur in Jajpur to Rajnagar in Kendrapara districts has reduced a lot,” said Das.

The desiltation will facilitate smooth flow of water. It will help hold up water connecting a nearby anicut on river bed which will irrigate thousands acre of farm land.

The proposal envisages many remedial measures along with the removal of silt.

“There was a time when the river was deep and there was flow of water throughout the year. The people had easy access to water. But the thing is not the same now. Massive siltation around the river is posing a threat to its existence,” said septuagenarian Manoranjan Mishra.

The other measures include renovation of Jokadia barrage. “We will construct a pond which will spread up to 1.5km on the Brahmani river after clearing the sand deposited at its catchment in Jenapur. The proposed pond will hold up 18 metre deep water up to gate level of the Jokadia barrack following which two anicuts at Jenapur and Jokadia will be revived,” said executive engineer of Jaraka irrigation division Purna Chandra Sahu.

“We have been consistently demanding the renovation of the river Brahmani. Over a lakh people will be benefited out of it,” said convenor of the Save Brahmani Campaign Gagan Jena.