Bhubaneswar: Odisha Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi today inaugurated the State-level World Water Day 2026 celebrations at the Convention Centre in Lok Seva Bhawan.
During the celebration, the Chief Minister launched a project of Rs 2612 crore. This included the laying of foundation stones of 17 projects worth Rs 2,292 crore and inauguration of 124 projects worth Rs 320 crore.
In his address, Majhi said, “Even a drop of water is precious for many people in the world. Therefore, asking everyone to take a pledge so that not even a single drop of water is wasted. The message of not wasting water should reach every home.”
“Children should be taught to save water from school itself because they are the water soldiers of the future,” he said adding that we should not waste water and save rainwater to keep the soil moist.
Terming the Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Jal Jeevan Mission as a revolutionary scheme, the Chief Minister said that he would take a resolution to eliminate water scarcity by providing clean drinking water through pipes to every home.
He further said, “Through “Jal Shakti Abhiyan: Catch the Rain” (JSA:CTR), water conservation is being made a national priority and women are being trained in water quality testing and management. As a result, we will not leave any section behind in the water service sector and affordable water will be available to all.”
“Our goal is to eliminate gender inequality in water management and strengthen the rural economy. Water security is the main condition for building a prosperous and developed Odisha. For this, women and self-help groups have been engaged as water partners,” he said while urging all the people of the state to come forward for water security based on the theme of this year’s World Water Day, ‘Water and Gender’.
Talking about various water schemes in the state, the Chief Minister said that water scarcity affects the poor the most. Therefore, providing clean water to the people at the last rung of the society is a special part of our Antyodaya policy. “Our government is working to provide clean water to every inaccessible village and backward area under Mission Power. We are promoting the policy of more crops per drop of water in the agriculture sector. Odisha has taken its place as the leading state in the country in planting trees through the ‘Ek Ped Maa Ke Naam’ campaign. Our state has also prepared a balanced water policy so that there is no dispute over water in the coming days,” the CM said.
The Chief Minister said that the main goal of the government is to increase the crop intensity of Odisha for irrigation facilities to 220 percent by 2036 and 250 percent by 2047 in the coming days.
He said that the success of the Canal Lining System, Rehabilitation Program, Lower Suktel Water Irrigation Project and Kusumi Smart Irrigation Project is an encouraging indicator of our 21-month implementation and additional irrigation has been provided to about 220,000 hectares of land through various irrigation schemes.
He added that the need of the hour is to increase the availability of clean drinking water and to ensure proper use of water. Therefore, water security is very important to meet the increasing demand from various sectors through Odisha Vision Documents 2036 and 2047.
On this occasion, the Chief Minister inaugurated the Child Care Center ‘Kalika’ at Rajiv Bhavan and launched the AI-powered citizen feedback system ‘Bindu’ Chatbot.
Along with this, a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed with the Central Water Commission by the Water Resources Department and a coffee table book ‘Sujala’ and a river map were also released.
Speaking at the event, Deputy Chief Minister Kanak Vardhan Singh Deo requested the Chief Minister that in places where lower level bridges are being demolished and higher height barrages are being constructed, the old low level bridges should not be demolished and gates should be installed on them and used for water conservation. The Chief Minister directed the departmental officers to study this proposal and submit a report.
Before the start of the event, the Chief Minister and the Deputy Chief Minister inaugurated the photo exhibition of the Water Resources Department.
Chief Secretary Anu Garg, Principal Secretary of the Water Resources Department Shubha Sharma, and Senior Engineer of the Water Resources Department Lingaraj Gouda were present at the event.