Odisha sanctions projects worth Rs 900 crore for eight districts under OMBADC

Bhubaneswar: Odisha government on Friday sanctioned projects worth Rs 900 crore for developmental works in eight districts under the Odisha Mineral Bearing Areas Development Corporation (OMBADC).

The government sanctioned the projects at a high level meeting here chaired by chief secretary A P Padhi.

Padhi directed the OMBADC to prioritise house to houseless and improvement in living conditions of people in mining affected area.

Panchyati Raj department has been asked 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 labours and improvement in the livelihood conditions of the area also figured in the meeting, said Steel and Mines secretary R K Sharma.

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The projects like pucca houses along with toilets, drinking water, road connectivity, sanitation and afforestation activities on saturation mode were prioritised in the meeting.

Padhi also directed all departments to implement the schemes of their respective departments on saturation mode covering all eligible households. Development Commissioner R Balakrishnan suggested the OMBADC to ensure road connectivity along with service availability in all remote and isolated hamlets of the area.

Sources said around 691 villages under 129 gram panchayats of 30 blocks in 8 districts have been identified for inclusion under the OMBADC fund. These districts are Angul, Dhenkanal, Jajpur, Jharsuguda, Keonjhar, Koraput, Mayurbhanj and Sundargarh.

So far, the corporation has got a fund of around Rs 1000 crore. As of now, the projects of worth Rs 900 crore amounting to around 90 per cent of the fund have been approved for these villages.

These include 29,829 housing units and 217 drinking water projects. Besides, farm and social forestry in 1938 hectares and avenue plantation along 535 km of road have been taken up during the year 2016-17.

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The projects for block plantation in 208 hectares, 98000 number of plantation in urban areas, avenue plantation along 307 km of road and distribution of 1,75,0000 seedlings during 2017-18 were approved in the meeting.

It was also decided to continue intensive soil and moister conservation activities along with fruit plantation activities, said chief executive officer of OMBADC, Subash Chandra Swain.

Padhi directed to implement fruit plantation activities through active involvement of the villagers.