Rourkela, Oct. 4: Funds crunch has hit the construction of a wholesale market at Balughat in Panposh, the foundation stone of which was laid in February 2014 by chief minister Naveen Patnaik.
The plan was to make this one of the largest vegetable markets in the state.
The project, which is supposed to be constructed on 12.3 acres, would be set up at an estimated cost of Rs 98.45 crore.
"Wild shrubs and a few trees are standing tall on the designated land. And of the 12.3 acres, 1.5 acres are still under illegal occupation," said a staff member of the regulated market committee (RMC) at Panposh.
So far, only the construction of the boundary wall has started. The committee will provide Rs 1.97 crore for the construction of the wall. This was decided at a high-level meeting when Bikram Keshari Arukh was the minister of the co-operation department, which controls the entire RMC.
When contacted, sub-collector Himansu Sekhar Behera, who is the present chairman of the committee, said: "We do not have funds for the project."
There is apprehension that the construction may get hampered, as there is only one junior engineer to look after all the construction activities of the committee in six districts.
"Rashtriya Krishi Vikash Yojna (RKVY), is supposed to provide Rs 35.36 and Rs 23.70 crore in two phases for the construction of the market. The state's capital assistance would be Rs 11.78 crore while the RMC's contribution would be Rs 4.92 crore, which is five per cent of the total project cost," said an official source.
The market yard is supposed to have many ultra-modern facilities such as cold storages, facilitation centre for farmers coming to sell their goods, medical facilities with a small dispensary and an information centre.
The chairman of the sub-committee of the RMC at Panposh, Ramesh Bala said: "It is quite astonishing how the detailed project report was submitted without taking into consideration the availability of funds. This is nothing but a farce."
Bala also said repeated reminders were sent to the government in this regard and so far there had been no response.
