30 CONTEXT 176 : JUNE 2023 GOBINDA BALLAVA DALAI and KATHRYN DAVIES Restoring the Odisha East Coast Canal The restoration of the East Coast Canal in Odisha, India, would contribute to irrigation, navigation, defence, waterpower, flood mitigation, land drainage and water supply. The East Coast Canal in Odisha (formerly Orissa) was built by the British as a lifeline to the communities along its length, following a famine in 1866. The canal has considerable archaeological and historic interest, and a national heritage designation. However, due to neglect and lack of investment, it is now unusable. Its restoration would bring tremendous economic, social, ecological and heritage benefits. The 1866 famine was the most devastating in India’s colonial history. One third of the population of the then Odisha province perished following crop failure through sustained drought, exacerbated by appalling transport infrastructure. The secretary of state for India ordered an inquiry into the catastrophe and a commission was appointed in December 1866. The commission’s report highlighted the abysmal state of communications in Odisha. There was no rail connection, seaports were poor, and the few roads through the state were impassable in the monsoon season. The commission’s recommendation to construct a canal constituted an important milestone in the Odisha’s economic history. The greater part of the province had been inaccessible to ordinary trade, meaning that when relief for the famine was eventually procured, it could not be transported because of the appalling road infrastructure. The commission recommended constructing a trunk road and making the existing irrigation canals navigable. As a result, several canals were developed in Odisha specifically for communication purposes. The government realised that if another famine visited the region, with this canal functioning as a major transport route, a vast number of boats from the rivers of lower Bengal could carry the grain without any additional expense to the government. The building of the East Coast Canal started The canal ended at Charbatia village in the present-day Bhadrak district of Odisha, connecting to the Matei river. The aerial photo shows the same location. The map shows the Odisha Coast Canal as part of the proposed National Waterway-5, announced by the Government of India but yet to be implemented.
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