Odisha initiates projects worth over Rs.900 crore under OMBADC

Bhubaneswar:28/10/17; Projects of worth Rs.900 cr under OMBADC have been taken up for key developmental activities in mining affected areas of 8 districts. Chief Secretary Aditya Prasad Padhi reviewed the progress of the projects in a high level meeting held in secretariat conference hall today wherein Principal Secretary Steel & Mines Sri Raj Kumar Sharma outlined the issues for discussion. The Chief Executive Officer of OMBADC Sri Subash Chandra Swain presented the updates.

 Reviewing projects undertaken by the Corporation, Chief Secretary Sri Padhi directed to prioritize ‘house to houseless’ and ‘improvement in living conditions’ in mining affected area. Panchyati Raj department was directed to undertake a detail survey of the homestead less persons and prepare a project for construction of their houses through convergence with other programmes like Basundhara. The issues relating to the improvement in the living conditions of the mine labors and improvement in the livelihood conditions of the area also figured in the meeting. The projects like Pucca houses along with toilets, drinking water, road connectivity, sanitation and afforestation activities on saturation mode were prioritized in the meeting.  Chief Secretary Sri Padhi also directed all departments to implement the schemes of their respective departments on saturation mode covering all eligible households. Development Commissioner Sri R. Balakrishnan advised to ensure road connectivity along with service availability in all remote and isolated hamlets of the area.

 Available data show, 691 villages under 129 GPs of 30 blocks in 8 districts have been identified for inclusion under the OMBADC fund. These districts are Angul, Dhenkanal, Jajpur, Jharsuguda, Kendujhar, Koraput, Mayurbhanj and Sundargarh.   So far, the Corporation has got a fund of around Rs.1000 cr . As of now, the projects of worth Rs.900 cr amounting to around 90% of the fund have been approved for these villages. These include 29,829 housing units and 217 drinking water projects. Along with this, Farm & social forestry in 1938 hectors and avenue plantation along  535 kms of road have been taken up during the year 2016-17.  The projects for block plantation in 208 hects, ANR in 3607 hect, 98000 nos of plantation in urban areas, avenue plantation along 307 kms of road and distribution of 1750000 seedlings during 2017-18 were approved in the meeting.    The Development Commissioner Sri R. Balakrishnan,  Additional Chief Secretary Forest & Environment Sri Suresh Chnadra Mohapatra, Principal Secretary Steel & Mines Sri Raj Kumar Sharma, Principal Secretary Finance Sri Tuhin Kanta Pandey,  Secretary Panchayati Raj Sri Deo Ranjan Kumar Singh, CEO OMBDAC Sri Subash Chandra Swain  along with other senior officers from respective departments participated in discussion.