Odisha Cabinet Clears Rs 650-Crore BOITA Scheme to Revive Irrigation Heritage

Bhubaneswar: Odisha will spend ₹650 crore over five years to conserve its historic irrigation infrastructure and develop heritage water assets for tourism and regional development, with the State Cabinet approving the Building Odisha’s Irrigation Project Tourism Amenities (BOITA) scheme.

The scheme, to be implemented by the Water Resources Department from 2026-27 to 2030-31, seeks to give a new lease of life to historic irrigation structures while bringing Odisha’s traditional water-management heritage closer to the public.

Odisha has a distinctive legacy of water and irrigation infrastructure, reflecting its historical, cultural and engineering traditions. The heritage extends from the State’s ancient maritime practices to irrigation structures built during the British era and the early post-Independence period.

Under BOITA, selected historic buildings and irrigation structures will be taken up for adaptive reuse and conservation. Their original water systems will also be stabilised and revived wherever feasible, with supporting infrastructure to be developed for their sustainable utilisation.

The initiative aims to go beyond preservation by creating opportunities for tourism and local economic development around heritage irrigation sites. The government expects the development of tourism amenities to improve public access to these assets while generating socio-economic opportunities in surrounding areas.

The scheme will also showcase Odisha’s traditional approaches to water management and highlight the role that irrigation infrastructure has played in the State’s development.

Principal Secretary, Water Resources Department, Subha Sarma said BOITA would open a new chapter in the conservation of Odisha’s irrigation heritage by connecting historic water assets with people, tourism and regional development.

The five-year initiative is expected to bring together heritage conservation, restoration of historic water systems and tourism development, potentially transforming several lesser-known irrigation assets into destinations that reflect Odisha’s engineering and cultural legacy.