Latest news with #WaterResourcesdepartment
New Indian Express
2 days ago
- Business
- New Indian Express
PMAY beneficiaries to get two tractor-loads of sand free: Odisha Min Pujari
BHUBANESWAR: In a move to reduce financial burden of the poor and low income group people, especially beneficiaries of Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY), the state government on Saturday announced to provide two tractor-loads of sand free of cost for house construction. Informing the decision, Revenue Minister Suresh Pujari told mediapersons that a proposal is also being drafted to ensure supply of sand to people at reasonable rates for house construction. 'The government has decided to issue permit to poor and low income group people to get sand free of cost ensuring that affordable housing becomes a reality. This will reduce the construction cost of the poor people especially the PMAY beneficiaries,' the minister said. At the same time, sand prices will be regulated to make it affordable for different income groups who depend on local suppliers and dealers, mostly dominated by the sand mafia. 'Illegal mining of sand from riverbed by sand mafia and sometime by the Water Resources department for general purpose, and transportation of sand using heavy vehicles like Hyva trucks are the other areas of concern. The government will take a call on the two issues soon,' Pujari said.
New Indian Express
28-04-2025
- Business
- New Indian Express
Low spend hits externally-aided projects in Odisha
BHUBANESWAR: Even as the left bank canal of Rengali irrigation project has been dragging on for years due to land acquisition and forest land conversion issues, several other externally-aided irrigation projects without such problems seem to have fared no better. Low expenditure of the annual plan outlay has revealed the laggardness in execution of the projects. One prime example is the Odisha Integrated Irrigation Project for Climate Resilient Agriculture (OIIPCRA) programme, a tank-based project assisted by World Bank to improve irrigation efficiency and strengthen climate resilience agriculture. The estimated cost of the project, which commenced from December 2019, was about Rs 1,680 crore with completion target of six years, by December 2025. The state government had made a budgetary provision of Rs 380 crore in 2024-25 for the project even as the Water Resources department had an unspent balance of Rs 225 crore. However, the total expenditure till the end of March this year was Rs 155 crore which comes to around 41 per cent. The project aims at demonstrating climate-smart agriculture in about 56,400 ha of command area under 538 minor irrigation projects (MIPs) and about 70,000 ha of rainfed area for augmenting the capacity and income of farmers in 15 districts. The Water Resources department selected 537 tanks in the districts for rehabilitation and stabilisation of irrigation over 91,435 ha to improve crop productivity and insulating farmers from climate change. According to progress report of the department, rehabilitation and stabilisation of 157 water tanks have been completed while 189 more are under progress. While tenders for 51 tank projects are under evaluation, another 19 are under process. The total value of these contracts amounts to Rs 142 crore. With only eight months left, the total expenditure under the OIIPCRA projects till February was Rs 663.4 crore, which is 39 per cent of the total cost. While the cost of the Rengali left bank canal project has been revised many times, the department has so far utilised Rs 1,306 crore out of the revised cost of Rs 3,063.67 crore. The plan outlay for the last financial year was Rs 160.5 crore out of which Rs 101.3 crore was spent till February creating irrigation potential for over 17,000 ha out of the planned 39,416 ha. Similarly, the expenditure on the Dam Rehabilitation and Improvement Project (DRIP) was only Rs 1.33 crore out of Rs 15 crore outlay.
Hans India
24-04-2025
- Business
- Hans India
Cabinet approves Rs 108 cr for Anandapur project
Bhubaneswar: The Odisha Cabinet, headed by Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi, on Wednesday approved Rs 108 crore for the construction of the integrated Anandapur Barrage Project in Keonjhar district. The decision was among six major proposals cleared across fivedepartments. Briefing the media, Chief Secretary Manoj Ahuja said the project, under the Water Resources department, aims to provide irrigation to 60,000 hectares in Keonjhar and Balasore districts. The current proposal covers a segment of the larger project, focused on creating irrigation po-tential for 2,221 hectares under Baitarani Left Bank Canal (BLBC) and Baitarani Right Bank Ca-nal (BRBC) systems. The project will use an underground pipeline network to serve a total of 3,450 hectares of cul-turable command area in Keonjhar, Ahuja said. The project's deadline is 18 months. In another major decision, the Cabinet approved an amendment to the Odisha Children's and Women's Welfare Service Rules, 1989, raising the minimum educational qualification for ap-pointment as an ICDS (Integrated Child Development Services) supervisor. Under the revised rules, an anganwadi worker must now hold a graduate degree or its equiva-lent from a recognised university, up from the previous Class 10 qualification. The change will apply only to fresh appointments. The State government also announced a restructuring of Odisha Subordinate Welfare Service and Odisha Welfare Service cadres. This includes the creation of 24 new posts across various ranks to improve administrative efficiency. The Cabinet also approved the proposal of the Health and Family Welfare department to allo-cate Rs 2,398.45 crore for 108 Emergency Medical Ambulance Service (EMAS) for a period of five years from 2023-24 to 2027-28, he added. Besides, two proposals of the Excise department on recruitment of constables and exemption of extra hour operation fees for distilleries, bottling units and brewery units were approved by the Cabinet.
