BERHAMPUR: Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Thursday laid foundation stone for the much-awaited drinking water project under ‘Buxi Jagabandhu assured drinking water to all habitation’ (Basudha) scheme.
At a function organised at Salt Ground in Humma town in Ganjam district, where he launched the project through video conferencing, MLA Pradeep Panigrahy and Chhatrapur MLA Dr Priyanshu Pradhan informed about the popular schemes implemented by BJD Government. Other important projects, including the third bridge over Rushikulya river at Ganjam town, are proposed to come up in near future, added Panigrahy.
District Planning Board Chairman and MLA Dr R C Choupatnaik said the project will benefit people of nine panchayats in Ganjam district while Zilla Parishad chairman Subash Behera said a new dry fish haat will soon open at Humma.
Earlier, the Chief Minister laid foundation stone for the mega project at Gomundia under Krushnaprasad block of Puri district. Under the scheme drinking water will be provided to 147 villages, including 55 in Ganjam block and 92 in Krushnaprasad block.
The mega pipe water scheme (PWS), implemented by Panchayati Raj and Drinking Water Department and executed by Hyderabad-based GVPR Engineers Limited, is expected to benefit water scarce villages of Puri and Ganjam districts. The plant will source water from Rushikulya river and is estimated to cost around `183 crore.
Among others, Ganjam Collector Vijay Amrit Kulange, Project Director, DRDA, SS Swain, Zilla Parishad vice-president Snehalata Panda and leaders of BJD were present. At the Puri function, Revenue and Disaster Management Minister Maheswar Mohanty, Puri MP Pinaki Misra, Brahmagiri MLA Sanjay Dasburma were present among others.
Two days back, the Chief Minister had launched ‘BASUDHA’ Helpline-1916, a dedicated grievance management initiative for rural water supply in the State.
The helpline will receive complaints regarding drinking supply in rural areas between 6 am and 6 pm. The grievances will be addressed in a time-bound manner.
The BASUDHA scheme was launched in 2017-18 as a tribute to Buxi Jagabandhu in the bi-centenary year of Paika Rebellion with a budgetary outlay of `600 crore. The State Government provided `1,000 crore for the scheme in 2018-19.
The Government has built 78 state-of-the-art water testing laboratories across Odisha to ensure that the supplied water meets the necessary quality standards. Official sources said more than five lakh samples are being tested in a year.
The objective of the scheme is to provide adequate safe water to rural people for drinking and domestic purposes on a sustainable basis.