Dikhyaa Mohanty 
The Hirakud dam, which is located where the Mahanadi and Ib rivers converge, will undergo rehabilitation work, as approved by the Mohan Majhi administration of Odisha. Over the following four years, Rs 855 crore will be used to repair the dam’s deteriorating canal system. It is important to note that the Mahanadi River was dammed at Hirakud, approximately 15 km upstream of Sambalpur town, making it the first significant multipurpose river valley project in India after independence. Built in 1957 for flood control in the delta region in addition to irrigation and power generation, it is the longest earthen dam in the nation.
In the districts of Sambalpur, Bargarh, Bolangir, and Sonepur, the 3,406 km canal network is used to irrigate 1.59 lakh hectares of land during the Kharif season and 1.12 lakh hectares during the Rabi season. The canal irrigation system was started in 1967. Through a complex network of major canals, distributaries, minors, and sub-minors, water from the dam reaches the farmlands. Typically, it takes 10 to 15 days for the canal water to reach the tail end. Over the past 60 years, the Hirakud canal network has caused the command area’s cropping intensity to increase from 110 to 187%.
