Naveen Patnaik lays the foundation stone for Mohuda waste management project in Berhampur on Thursday. Picture by Gopal Krishna Reddy

Berhampur, Oct. 3: Chief minister Naveen Patnaik today laid the foundation stone of a Rs 70-crore solid waste management project at Mohuda about 15km from here.

In all, foundation stones were laid for 10 projects worth Rs 825 crore in the city.

The projects include a driving training and road safety institute at Pallur Hill, a city bus depot and bus terminus at Haldiapadar, construction of the Lochapada-Nandika road, improvement of the Janivilli water supply project, construction of the new Berhampur Development Authority building, a new ITI building and Ring roads at Gosaninuagaon, Ankuli and Ambapua. Naveen also inaugurated modern equipment installed at the Braille Press in front of the City Hospital.

While distributing laptops to college students in Ganjam district, Naveen said Berhampur’s development was the priority of his government. “We will take other measures shortly for further development of Berhampur,” he said in Odia.

The solid waste management project of the Berhampur Municipal Corporation at Mohuda is expected to be implemented within a few months. The municipal corporation has taken possession of over 31.62 acres at Mohuda for the project.

“We have entered into an agreement with the Baroda-based United Phosphorous Engineering and Environment Limited and asked the company to start work within two months,” said Subhakanta Das, the civic body’s health officer.

The company was selected through competitive bidding.

The project will be an integrated system, involving collection, transportation, treatment and disposal with composting technology, he said.

The city generates about 140 tonnes of waste daily and it is likely to reach 250 tonnes over the next 30 years, he said.

The driving training and road safety institute at Pallur Hill will be set up in collaboration with Tata Motors. It will impart practical training to produce competent motor vehicle drivers. The institute will train 1,200 heavy motor vehicle drivers a year and hold refresher courses for more than 10,000 drivers every year.

It will undertake extensive study and research on reasons for occurrence of road accidents and suggest ways and means to reduce or avoid accidents, said a senior officer of the commerce and transport department.