Dikhyaa Mohanty 
The Water Resources department has asked all district collectors to make sure the goal is met by using water from various irrigation sources. The department has set a target of providing irrigation to 12.15 lakh hectares of land for the purpose of raising rabi crops. Additionally, the department has asked the collectors to set aside a specific day each month for “Secha Samikshya,” a program in which officers from line departments will review all irrigation projects and schemes.
“Secha Samikshya is an important platform to resolve inter-departmental issues for timely completion of ongoing projects and to prepare strategy for maximising water utilisation of irrigation projects for rabi and kharif programmes,” Water Resources’ additional chief secretary, Anu Garg, wrote in a letter to district collectors. It is recommended that appropriate measures be taken to ensure maximum utilization of irrigation water by adopting crop diversification and promoting crops with low duty and high values, she continued, since DoWR has developed a program to provide water to 12.15 lakh hectares for raising rabi crops through various irrigation sources such as mega lift irrigation, community lift irrigation, and deep bore wells.
In the interim, senior officers have been designated by the department as Jal Prabharis for each district, with the responsibility of monitoring activities in tandem with the district administration. During their district visits, the Jal Prabharis have been directed to attend the Secha Samikshya meetings.
