Division level PaniPanchayat Fortnight held across the State

Bhubaneswar 23/12/2024:In the first leg of conduct of PaniPanchayatPakhya, 2025, scheduled for 22nd December, 2024-5th January 2025, Division level observance of this fortnight has been held across 136 Divisions of the state on 22.12.2022. The District level functions will be held in 29th December 2024 and the State level one on 5th of January, 2025.

This year, the PaniPanchayat Fortnight has been converged with the ‘KrushiOdisha’ for greater synergy amongst the farmers and members of PaniPanchayats and to give both greater exposure to the interventions of the Department of Water Resources and the allied Departments such as Agriculture & Farmers’ Empowerment and Fisheries & Animal Husbandry.

The Pakhya has been scheduled with Flag off ceremony of launching of Rath by Hon’ble Ministers, Hon’bleMPs, MLAs in presence of local PRI and ULB representatives, eminent persons,  invited for the programme

On this occasion of  commencement of PaniPanchayatFortnighton 22^nd December in the Division levels, Hon’ble MLAs, Angul, Bhadrak,  Kamakhyanagar,Paralakhemundi, Jagatsinghpur, Patna, Anandpur, Bangiriposi, Jashipur, Malkangiri, Khariar, Gunpur, Kantamal, Nawarangpur, and Koreihave flagged off Raths in their respective constituencies. Further, Collectors & District Magistrates, Deogarh, Gajapati, Mayurbhanja, Nuapada, Rayagada, and Sundergarh were also a part of the flagging off of the Raths.

Various activities were held such as debates, essays, painting, quizzes, exhibition of Model competitions amongst school children, exhibitions on the occasion, PaniPanchayatSamabesha, Information Education Communication(IEC), Social Behavioral Change Communication (SBCC) activities through exhibitions and Rath, etc. Awareness is being created through Banners, brochures, logos, slogans, taglines, anthems, oaths etc to create the buzz.

It is noteworthy to mention here that more than 39000PaniPanchayatsare spearheading water governance in the state in a participatory manner. The OdishaPaniPanchayat Act, 2002, and amendments thereto have brought in inclusion and equity by opening avenues for women, fishermen, and water users under the mega lift irrigation projects.

Rs 1338 Cr has been provided for the construction of 2400 KMs of field channels covering 80,000 Ha of command area and the reconstruction of 1860 KMs of old and dilapidated channels covering 62,000 Ha till the FY 2028-29.

PaniPanchayats these days are also being initiated to greater water productivity and efficient water use; climate-resilient agricultural practices and technologies; diversification of crops and use of resilient seeds; supply chain and market linkages etc through projects such as Odisha Integrated Project for Climate Resilient Agriculture.

Collaborations have also been established with the Institute of Water Management for piloting IoT-enabled digital water measuring and soil moisture sensing systems and the Xavier Institute of Management for building the capacity of the PaniPanchayats through master trainers.

Real-time monitoring of functioning of PaniPanchayats and water micro structures being built and convergent activities taken up by them are being tracked through IT interventions such as e-CAD and Samanwaya mobile and web-based applications.

Odisha has been conferred with first rank in the best state category for the National Water Award, 2023 by the Ministry of Jal Shakti, Govt. of India for the work done in the field of water resources conservation and management and the contribution of the PaniPanchayats has been significant in this pursuit. The effort of the state to ensure equity and inclusion in PaniPanchayats has also been acknowledged at the national level.

While the Pakhya allows us to acknowledge the immense contribution being made by the PaniPanchayats and farmers in the water sector it also acts as a platform to sensitize the PaniPanchayatsensuring equity and inclusion in water governance; increased diversification and intensification of crops; adopting technology and conservation- reuse- recycling practices.