MALKANGIRI: Tight security arrangements are in place across Malkangiri town and at DNK ground, where Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi will address a public gathering on Friday as part of state-level Janjatiya Gaurav Divas celebrations.
Majhi is scheduled to inaugurate several development projects, lay foundation stones for others and interact with beneficiaries of government welfare schemes. Among the projects lined up for the visit are initiatives under the Centre’s PM-JANMAN scheme for Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTGs).
The projects are expected to benefit the Bonda and Didayi communities as well as residents of Swabhiman Anchal.
However, the Malkangiri district unit of the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) has announced that it will oppose Majhi’s proposed visit, citing concerns over the Polavaram project and delays in infrastructure development and welfare measures.
District BJD president and former Malkangiri MLA Manas Madkami said in a press release on Saturday that authorities had yet to convene gram sabhas or palli sabhas in the Motu area to hear residents’ concerns over the Polavaram project. He alleged that the Odisha and Andhra Pradesh governments, along with the Centre, had failed to make arrangements to compensate residents for potential losses arising from the project.
The BJD further alleged that work on high-level bridges to replace low-lying crossings along the Mathili-Motu stretch of NH-326 had stalled. It also said construction of the four-lane highway connecting Malkangiri and Mayurbhanj, announced by Majhi at last year’s Malyabanta Mahotsav, was yet to begin.
Madkami questioned the whereabouts of 88 projects worth Rs 245 crore that the party claimed Majhi had inaugurated at the festival, saying residents had not been informed about their locations.
