BHUBANESWAR: Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Thursday said the state government was focused on water conservation to meet the requirements of irrigation, drinking water supply, industries, fisheries and other livelihood sectors.
Addressing an induction ceremony of 441 junior engineers (civil) under the Water Resources department at the Lok Seva Bhavan here, he said, the state has more than 4,000 dams at present. The state government has taken up construction of 30 in-stream storage structures in the first phase and another 41 will be constructed in the second and third phases, he said.
The chief minister said the projects will help in water conservation, and rural water supply and help improve groundwater level which is emerging as a critical environmental issue everywhere. The chief minister called upon the engineers to follow the government’s 5T initiative. With the application of 5T initiative, several major irrigation projects have been accelerated with the application of modern technology. He expected the new engineers to keep themselves updated with new technologies and bring innovative solutions to challenging issues.
Water Resources Minister Tukuni Sahu said farmers remain at the centre of the chief minister’s vision of new Odisha. “Engineers of the department, who work for supplying water to farmland, have a very important role to play in the state’s transformation,” she added.
Development Commissioner Anu Garg said the department has a major role in farmers’ empowerment as it creates infrastructure for farmers. As the quantum and scale of work increased, she asked the new engineers to work as a team and complete projects on time using modern technology.
67 posts created in BDA
Bhubaneswar: Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Thursday approved the creation of 67 posts to make the enforcement system of the Bhubaneswar Development Authority (BDA) more effective and efficient. According to the chief minister’s office (CMO), the posts including one ACP, six ASIs and 60 constables, will be created by Odisha Police and filled up. The BDA had submitted a proposal stating that it requires 25 teams and five reserve teams to ease and speed up removal of encroachments for beautification and of the city.