Odisha Watershed Development Mission (OWDM)

Background of OWDM – Watershed Development programmes funded through various sources were executed in Odisha through District Rural Development Agencies (DRDA) and Directorate of Soil Conservation. The execution of watershed was in adherences to the prescribed guidelines to Govt. of India, management related gaps persisted in the process of implementation. There was no ‘single window’ system to monitor all the watersheds implemented under different government and non-government schemes. Also, convergence in thematic areas, both technical and non – technical was lacking.

In the year 2000, the Govt of Odisha established the Odisha Watershed Development Mission (OWDM), as a society under the Societies Registration Act to plan, coordinate, supervise and monitor all watershed projects with a special focus on creating an enabling environment for the State to initiate people centered watershed projects. The OWDM was managing watershed development schemes under the IWDP, DPAP, ACA, NWDPRA, EAS and WORLP, etc. At present, more than 3000 watersheds are under implementation throughout Odisha covered under the Scheme PMKSY (erstwhile IWMP).