Berhampur water supply plan gets Cabinet approval

BHUBANESWAR: The Cabinet on Thursday approved a proposal of Rs 432 crore water supply project for Berhampur to address the problem of acute drinking water shortage in the Silk City.
The Cabinet meeting presided by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik approved the project targeting a population of 8.68 lakh including rural populace of 1.9 lakh of 54 villages by 2045. The project will be taken up considering Janivilly ayacut, which is 55 km from Berhampur, as source.

The project includes intake well-cum-pump house at Janivilly, water treatment plant of 60 million litre per day (MLD), 10 underground reservoirs, 17 elevated service reservoirs, 18 pump houses and 232 km-long distribution network. The project to be undertaken by Larsen and Toubro Limited will be completed within next 24 months.
Besides, a decision was taken to implement five rural piped water supply projects in Balasore, Bhadrak, Puri, Keonjhar and Balangir districts. The Rs 327-crore project to be funded by the grants of 4th State Finance Commission will cover 2,59,871 people of 305 villages of 10 blocks of these five districts.

The Cabinet also decided to rationalise VAT rate on LPG cylinder, e-rickshaw and battery operated vehicle from 14.5 to five per cent. Besides, a proposal to keep pani panchayats outside the VAT net was also approved.
The Cabinet approved excess expenditure of Rs 580.27 crore by different departments during 2010-11 and 2011-12. An Appropriation Bill will be brought in next session of Assembly to regularise the expenditure.
Besides, a proposal to waive 36,957 sales tax arrear cases below Rs 5,000 each amounting to Rs 4.35 crore was approved.