Sambalpur: Finally, the road to the construction of additional spillways in the Hirakud Reservoir has been paved

The file, which has been hidden under Nalifita for months, has been open. The state government has handed over the construction of an additional spillway to the Odisha Construction Corporation (OCC). in 1997 Central Water Commission and the state government jointly assessed the maximum flood potential (PMF). It is estimated that 24.5 million cusecs of floodwaters will recede. Under the current system, a maximum of 1.5 million cusecs of water can be drained from the Hirakud Reservoir in one hour.

The Chhattisgarh government is building several barrages and discharging arbitrary rainwater for its own protection. In view of the danger to the Hirakud Reservoir, steps have been taken to build an additional spillway on the Hirakud side in collaboration with the Central Water Commission and the World Bank. After the state government reopened the Spillway division in 2016, it entered into an agreement with Tata Infra Project Limited, which got the tender. Tata has decided to build an additional five spillways in collaboration with Iran’s AJ, an experienced spillway builder. The contractor, which won a tender worth about Rs 380 crore, withdrew from the project in 2020, citing delays in the transfer of land after only Rs 12 crore had been worked out. After the tribunal gave the green light for the construction of an additional spillway, the Hirakud Dam authorities wrote a letter to the state government last June calling for tenders.

The state government then clarified on some issues. The government has been quick to respond to delays in bidding for the tender. The water resources were handed over directly to the OCC. The OCC will call for tenders soon. A senior official said the Department of Water Resources would oversee the work, even if it was done through a contractor.