Dikhyaa Mohanty 
For its efforts in the conservation and management of water resources, the Ministry of Jal Shakti, Government of India, has awarded Odisha the 5th National Water Award, placing it first in the Best State Category. During a ceremony at Vigyan Bhawan in New Delhi, President Droupadi Murmu presented this award to Development Commissioner-turned-Additional Chief Secretary Anu Garg on behalf of the State.
The Department of Water Resources (DoWR) has accomplished this achievement via a variety of activities and performances throughout the year. By finishing the Lower Suktel Dam and Haldia Dam, 369 million cum of water storage facilities have been created to address needs for drinking water, agriculture, and other uses. In order to conserve water resources, 317 check dams have been completed under the state-funded MATY scheme, which will store approximately 2.0 million cum of water and provide irrigation for 7120 hectares. Additionally, 28 Instream Storage Structures (ISS) are currently under construction, and 18 ISS are in the tendering stage.
Additionally, 3.0 million cum of water storage capacity has been increased and 144 MIPs have been refurbished. Out of the 4,656 recognized tanks, 2385 have undergone renovations under the Amrit Sarobar Yojana, while work on 886 tanks is ongoing. Throughout the year, 22,777 RWHS have been built under the MUKTA project. The irrigation efficiency of the projects has generally enhanced by more than 20% as a result of the installation of subterranean pipelines in the distribution systems for all irrigation project types. Crop diversity and SCADA-based water management systems have been implemented to improve water usage efficiency.
In addition to stabilizing 0.45 lakh hectares of irrigation land, more than 2.21 lakh hectares of land were made available for irrigation, benefiting over 2.5 lakh farmers. This includes the distribution system of the Subarnarekha major irrigation project (10,000 hectares), the Gangadhar Meher Lift Canal (25,600 hectares), the Baitarani Left Bank Canal of the Integrated Anandapur Barrage Project (1400 hectares), and the extension of the Harbhangi medium project (2400 hectares). Additionally, 1,39,317 hectares of irrigation command have been created, along with the installation of 15,403 Deep Bore Wells, 2,890 Community LIPs, and 59 Mega Lift Irrigation Projects covering 81,216 hectares of upland terrain. Additionally, 86,847 farmers benefited from the conversion of 90,927 hectares of irrigated land from traditional to micro-irrigation.
