Public participation is necessary for the revival of the river: Chief Minister
Chief Minister took the meeting of Arpa Basin Development Authority
Raipur, 13 May 2023
Chief Minister Mr. Bhupesh Baghel has given strict instructions to complete all the irrigation projects being implemented in the Arpa basin in a time-bound manner. He said that there is no dearth of funds for the development of Arpa river area. To revive it, ensure that all the departments related to it work with mutual coordination so that the thirst of the Arpa river can be quenched as soon as possible and it can be converted into a perennial river like before. Shri Baghel gave instructions to this effect in the meeting of Arpa Basin Development Authority in Bilaspur today during the meeting.
He said that public participation is also necessary along with government efforts to revive the river. In the meeting, Revenue and Disaster Management Minister and in-charge of the district Mr. Jaisingh Agarwal, Chief Minister’s advisor Mr. Pradeep Sharma, MLA Mr. Dharamlal Kaushik, Mr. Shailesh Pandey, Dr. Krishnamurthy Bandhi, Mr. Rajneesh Singh, Vice President of Arpa Development Authority Mr. Abhaynarayan Rai, Tourism Board President Mr. Atal Srivastava, Mayor Mr. Ramsharan Yadav along with Secretary in-charge of the district Mr. Manoj Kumar Pingua, Secretary to Chief Minister Siddharth Komal Pardeshi, Divisional Commissioner Dr. Sanjay Alang, Collector Saurabhkumar including Korba Collector Mr. Sanjeev Kumar Jha, Mungeli Collector Mr. Rahul Dev Senior officials of the Water Resources Department and members of the authority were present.
It is noteworthy that in August 2021, the Arpa Basin Development Authority has been constituted in a new form for the overall development of the Arpa river catchment area. On scientific basis, such structures will be constructed so that water flows in the river for twelve months. The jurisdiction of the authority includes 625 villages of GPM, Mungeli and Korba districts including Bilaspur. These villages cover 3,634 square kilometers in its catchment area. In Arpa and its tributaries, 116 schemes, including big and small, are operated by the Water Resources Department, their designed irrigation capacity is 86 thousand 605 hectares.
Presently 3 barrage projects are in progress to keep Arpa river alive. These include Arpa Bhainsajhar, Shivghat and Pachrighat. Apart from this, 9 schemes including Chhapra Tola have been approved in the budget of the year 2023-24. Through these schemes, water will be released and revived in Arpa. On this occasion, the Chief Minister saw the presentation of ongoing development works in the Authority. He said that the Shivghat barrage under construction in the Arpa river adjacent to the city should be compulsorily completed by the end of June. With the construction of this barrage, the water problem of the city will be solved to a great extent. Members of Arpa Development Authority Mr. Mahesh Dubey, Mr. Narendra Bolar, Mrs. Asha Pandey were also present in the meeting. Mr. Abhay Narayan Rai, Vice President of Arpa Development Authority gave the welcome address.
