Bhubaneswar, June 2 (IANS) Odisha government will carry out a census of various water resources in the state for the first time, an official said on Monday.

The census is being carried out following the instructions of the Ministry of Jalshakti, Department of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation.

The censuses are undertaken through Computer Assisted Personal Interview (CAPI) and a web-based application comprising four census-first censuses of major and medium irrigation census and the census of springs, second census of water bodies and the 7th census of minor irrigation.

“This is a unique opportunity for the state to create a comprehensive database of all water resources from the village level to the state level. For the first time, this is being conducted in a coordinated and convergent manner by the Department of Water Resources and Planning and the Convergence Department. This is a unique instance of users and producers of the statistics working together to ensure better data quality,” reads the statement.

Development Commissioner Anu Garg reviewed the census programmes being carried out in the state which was also attended by senior officials of Water Resources, Panchayati Raj and Drinking Water, E&IT departments, Directorate of Economics and Statistics, Chief Engineer, Minor Irrigation, Odisha Lift Irrigation Corporation, Central Ground Water Board, and State Groundwater Board.

Besides, Superintending Engineers, Deputy Director, DPMUs from all the districts were also present during the meeting held on Monday.

The focus of the meeting was on the effective implementation of the irrigation and spring censuses to capture quality data.

While reviewing the census programmes, Garg emphasised on coordinated and convergent approach of all the stakeholders for quality data collection so that a comprehensive database of all water resources can be made.

This will be a comprehensive database for planning water resources of the state for irrigation, industry, pisciculture, human and animal consumption etc.

She also instructed the Superintending Engineer, Executive Engineer, and Deputy Director, Planning and Statistics at the District level to work together to make these census operations a grand success.

–IANS

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