Bhadrak: Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan today conducted the ‘Bhumi Pujan’ (ground-breaking ceremony) of LNG terminal at Dhamra here in presence of other BJP leaders including KV Singhdeo and Manmohan Samal.
Addressing the gathering after laying the foundation stone, Pradhan said the terminal will play a significant role in the development of eastern India. “Honourable Prime Minister has clearly stated that India can’t be considered as developed unless the eastern region including Odisha, Manipur,West Bengal, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh have developed. Only one gas terminal is operating in the country in Gujarat, but now natural gas will come to Bhadrak from America, Canada, Qatar and other countries. The terminal will be set up at a cost of Rs 6,000 crore and a pipeline to transport gas will be laid at a cost of Rs 13,000 crore, which will connect 13 districts of Odisha and State of Jharkhand and Uttar Pradesh,” Pradhan said.
Hours before the ceremony of the mega LNG terminal, BJD posters mentioning party's achievement and commitment for development of Bhadrak were found destroyed in the area.
However, the BJP posters with the photographs of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan at various locations in Bhadrak and Dhamra port area have remained intact.
The meeting venue of the ‘bhumi pujan’ did not have a single poster of the Chief Minister while the place was packed with posters containing photos of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan.
Last evening the Chief Minister’s office had announced the CM will not be attending the inaugural event today.
BJD said Patnaik skipped the event due to ‘politicisation’ of the programme. “As it was a government programme, CM had given consent to attend it. But, later it turned into a political event. So, he decided to stay away from such a programme”, BJD spokesperson and Rajya Sabha MP Pratap Deb said.
BJP denied the allegation of damaging BJD posters. “I don’t find any posters being destroyed today. All the posters have remained in place as usual. I don’t know the reason of CM’s cancellation of the programme. This is not a party activity. It’s step for the betterment of local people and development of State. All should come forward to make it a success,” BJP leader Manmohan Samal said.