JHARSUGUDA: Union Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas, Dharmendra Pradhan on Saturday unveiled a life size statue of freedom fighter Veer Surendra Sai in front of the airport here. Speaking on the occasion, Pradhan said the statue will remind people arriving at the town of the sacrifices made by Veer Surendra Sai for the country. He said Jharsuguda is poised to become the economic gateway of western Odisha owing to presence of numerous industries in the district.
At present, over 65 million tonne coal is produced at Jharsuguda and Sundargarh and the capacity will be enhanced to 150 million tonne in the next 5-10 years. State Health and Family Welfare Minister Naba Kishore Das thanked Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik for allocating land for construction of the airport. He said the unveiling of the statue of Veer Surendra Sai on his birth anniversary is a matter of pride for people of Odisha.
The 14-feet tall statue placed on an eight feet high pedestal, made of bronze alloy, has been created by noted sculptor Ram Sutar. Mahanadi Coalfields Limited (MCL) sanctioned `45 lakh for the project. MPs and MLAs along with Collector Saroj Kumar Samal and MCL Director (Technical) OP Singh were present. After unveiling the statue, Pradhan visited the freedom fighter’s native Khinda village and received a rousing welcome on Saturday. He also addressed a gathering of locals.