MALKANGIRI: Principal secretary of Housing and Urban Development and Commerce & Transport departments, Usha Padhee visited Malkangiri on Saturday and reviewed the status of the key infrastructure and development projects being undertaken in the district.
Chairing a meeting at the district council conference hall, she took stock of the operational bottlenecks facing the projects and asked the district-level officials to expedite pending works.
After arriving in the district, Padhee visited Govindpalli to inspect the condition of the existing bus stand. She later reviewed the newly-constructed bus stand at Mathili, focusing on passenger amenities and operational readiness. The ongoing construction of the bus terminal in Malkangiri town was also inspected.
Padhee also visited the RTO, Malkangiri, and held discussions with officials on administrative functioning and public service delivery. She took stock of the newly-constructed municipal building of Malkangiri Municipality. The officer also visited the compost centre at Jabardasti Colony in the MV-42 area, where she interacted with sanitation workers and enquired about their working conditions and livelihood challenges, and assured necessary support.
Padhee also inspected the BB Guda tank located in front of the collectorate and reviewed the ongoing water conservation project. Municipal officials informed her that around Rs 2 crore was required for completion of the project after which she asked them to submit a detailed project report in this connection. The principal secretary further visited the Aahaar Centre near the bus stand and interacted with beneficiaries to assess service delivery. She also visited the Adarsh crematorium and reviewed its maintenance and facilities. Padhee also inspected the Malkangiri airstrip and held detailed discussions with engineers of the Roads and Buildings division on the issues affecting its operationalisation.
Speaking to mediapersons, she said CM Mohan Charan Majhi has directed early completion of the airstrip. “The runway will be extended to 300 metres and would be larger than the Jeypore airstrip. While minor works are expected to be completed by the end of the current financial year, major works including runway extension are likely to take another seven months,” she said.
Zilla Parishad chief development officer-cum-executive officer Naresh Chandra Sabar and senior officials from various departments were present.