Bhubaneswar, Aug. 18: The state government has decided to take up development activities at 691 villages of 30 mining-affected blocks in eight districts.
This was decided at a meeting of officials chaired by chief secretary Aditya Prasad Padhi on Wednesday. Money for the purpose will be made available from the Odisha Mineral Bearing Areas Development Corporation (OMBADC) fund.
The OMBADC was incorporated as a non-profit government company in 2014 for carrying out development activities in the mining-affected areas. About 50 per cent of the net profit value collected from the mining leases will be utilised through this corporation for basic development activities in the identified villages. State government had provided Rs 1 lakh as token share capital at the initial stage for formation of the corporation. So far, the corporation has generated funds to the tune of Rs 1,000 crore.
A survey of the mining-affected areas has been completed and 691 villages under 129 gram panchayats of 30 blocks in eight districts (Angul, Dhenkanal, Jajpur, Jharsuguda, Keonjhar, Koraput, Mayurbhanj and Sundargarh) have been identified for inclusion under this programme.
Development projects worth Rs 900 crore have been approved till date. These include 29,829 dwelling units, 196 drinking water projects, 855 hectares block plantation, 842km of avenue plantation, 3,600 hectares of assisted natural regeneration and 9,800 seedling plantation in towns of the mining-affected areas, sources said.
The major activities include raising social infrastructure, provision of drinking water, sanitation, health service, education and power supply, livelihood promotion, irrigation, skill development for alternative livelihood and supplementary income, environmental upgrade, construction of roads and Anganwadi centres and development of sports.
The chief secretary directed the chief executive officer and principal chief conservator of forests Subash Chandra Mishra to prioritise housing, drinking water, sanitation and afforestation activities at all these villages. Padhi also directed all departments to implement the schemes of their respective departments on saturation mode covering all eligible households. Development commissioner R. Balakrishnan advised to ensure road connectivity along with service availability in all remote and isolated hamlets of the area.
Officials of the panchayati raj and drinking water departments have been directed to complete all the housing projects by December. The department officials were also asked to ensure piped water supply to each and every household in the identified villages.
"Each new house being constructed must have a toilet and running water," said the chief secretary. The forest department officials were instructed to intensify plantation activities for increasing green coverage in the area. It was further decided to take up intensive soil and moisture conservation activities in all forest pockets of the identified area.
