Pradeep Pattanayak

The roof of the indoor stadium that was inaugurated by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik in Ganjam Purusottampur NAC in March was blown away in a Nor'wester, forcing local residents to blame low-quality construction work for the damage. 

According to sources, the stadium at Purusottampur NAC was built at a cost of around Rs 4 crore. Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik inaugurated it in March. Hardly did it complete a month, when its roof was blown away in Nor'wester rain, bringing the quality work into question. 

Local residents alleged that low-quality construction work was done by the contractor in cahoots with the departmental officers. 

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“The multi-purpose indoor stadium incident is the tip of the iceberg of the corruption done by this 25-year-old inefficient government. The stadium’s roof was damaged in mere Norwester rain. From this it can be understood how the money meant for the stadium was being siphoned off,” said Manoranjan Dash, president of Purusottampur Nagar Congress. 

When asked, Satyaban Patel, an R & B Department official in Ganjam said, “The wind speed was estimated to be over 200 kms. It can’t be said to be a normal one.  We are assessing the damage and soon the repair work will be carried out.”

  • Reported by:
  • Pitabasa Das
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