Sambalpur, September 16: Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi on Wednesday launched 50 development projects worth Rs 960 crore in Sambalpur.
The Chief Minister inaugurated 15 projects worth Rs 133.47 crore and laid foundation stone for 35 new projects worth Rs 825.83 crore, together amounting to Rs 960 crore, across health, rural development, sports, water resources, irrigation sectors.
Attending the programme at Gangadhar Meher University, Majhi said that development works worth around Rs 1,910 crore were underway in Sambalpur between January and September this year.
Highlighting industrial development and employment in western Odisha, the Chief Minister said that a Rs 40,000-crore expansion of Hindalco at Lapanga and Rs 32,000-crore project by JSW-JFE Steel at Rengali were being implemented in the region.
In addition, an Agriculture Bhawan, a girls’ hostel, modernization of the Sambalpur Football Academy, and the ‘Hirakud Dam Master Plan’ were also being developed, he said.
The State Government has set a target of transforming Odisha into a $500-billion economy by 2036, the centenary of the state, and a $1.5-trillion economy by 2047, the Chief Minister said.
Highlighting the achievements of the ‘double-engine’ Governments at the Centre and in the State, the Chief Minister said Odisha has received railway projects worth Rs 90,000 crore, road projects worth Rs 40,000 crore, port projects worth Rs 25,000 crore, and shipbuilding projects worth Rs 25,000 crore.
In Sambalpur, ley projects like Rs 1,521-crore four-lane bypass, Rs 1,700-crore expansion of VIMSAR, Rs 100-crore Aqua Park, and the Rs 100-crore ‘Samalei Phase-II’ has been accelerated. Referring to the conferment of Padma Shri awards on three creators and artists associated with the song ‘Rangabati’ under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, he praised the Central Government’s recognition of the region’s culture.
He also appealed to the public to participate in month-long programmes such as the ‘Seva Sankalp Abhiyan’, ‘Ashirbadara Deepa’ and ‘Ek Ped Maa Ke Naam’ to mark the birthday of Prime Minister Narendra Modi on September 17.
Chief Minister Majhi inaugurated the state-of-the-art ‘Make in India’ Doppler Weather Radar (DWR), designed to strengthen disaster management in Sambalpur and across western Odisha.
The doppler radar will provide accurate data within a radius of 250 kilometres and forecast weather movement up to 450 kilometres.
It will benefit 13 districts - Sambalpur, Bargarh, Jharsuguda, Sundargarh, Deogarh, Subarnapur, Balangir, Boudh, Nuapada, Angul, Kalahandi, Keonjhar and Dhenkanal - as well as some areas of neighbouring Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand.
Early warnings of pre-monsoon thunderstorms, lightning and hailstorms will particularly benefit farmers across the Mahanadi basin, including Bargarh, known as the ‘rice bowl’ of Odisha.
The radar will estimate rainfall every 10 minutes at a resolution of 150 metres, thereby strengthening the management of inflows into the Hirakud Reservoir.
It will also assist in taking precautionary measures in the electricity, industrial, transport and grid-operation sectors.
The Chief Minister announced that Doppler radars would also be installed in Balasore, Bhubaneswar and Puri in the coming days.
Joining virtually, Union Minister for Earth Sciences Dr Jitendra Singh said that the Doppler radar inaugurated at Sambalpur represents a major achievement and milestone in the country’s forecasting system.
Revenue and Disaster Management Minister Suresh Pujari, Rajya Sabha MP Manmohan Samal, Sambalpur MLA Jayanarayan Mishra, IMD DG Dr Mrutyunjay Mohapatra, among others were present at the programme.
