PA/39/13 6 December 2013
Australia partners with Odisha on water management
The Australian government will fund diversion based irrigation systems amounting to ₹10 lakh in two villages in the Nayagarh district of Odisha.
Announcing the Australian government funding during a visit to Odisha, the Australian High Commission’s Political Counsellor Ms Diana Nelson said, "This project builds on a much larger partnership that Australia is developing with India in the critical area of water management."
"I am very pleased that under this partnership we have a project in Odisha, the Brahmani-Baitarni Basin project, under which we are using Australian eWater modelling technology to develop a river basin management plan," she added.
The irrigation systems in Nayagarh district will enable over 200 people to access year round irrigation in a cost effective manner, which will help them diversify the crops they grow.
The system is cost effective because it depends on gravity rather than electricity. It is estimated that a total of 63 acres of farmland will be perennially irrigated as a result of the irrigation project.
Building on the cooperation under a 2009 MoU and associated Joint Working Group on water resource management, Australia and India announced a Water Technology Partnership in 2012. Under the partnership, Australia is sharing its world class national hydrological modelling platform, 'eWater Source', to assist India in managing its major river basins.
The Australian Foreign Minister, Julie Bishop, on her first visit to India as Foreign Minister recently, announced the second phase of the water technology partnership between Australia and India.