Kalahandi district is not the “land of hunger” and an instance of maximum poverty, however has remodeled into Odisha’s rice bowl and a mannequin of improvement mentioned Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Thursday whereas launching a slew of tasks price over Rs 2,000 crore within the district. Patnaik laid down the muse of 52 tasks price Rs 1,020 crore and inaugurated 57 tasks price Rs 1064 in his first ever public gathering because the COVID-19 outbreak.
He credited the transformation of the district to Indravati river. The Upper Indravati Lift Canal System was amongst the 57 tasks which had been inaugurated by the CM. Built at a price of Rs 986.71 crore, the irrigation system, comprising 43.26 km of concrete canals and 1,142 km of underground pipelines, has the capability to irrigate 25,275 hectares of cropland. 10 consuming water tasks, 13 test dams, meals parks, energy feed traces, and roads and bridges had been additionally inaugurated by the CM on Thursday.
Recalling Kalahandi’s reference to former CM and his father Biju Patnaik, the CM mentioned, “When Biju Babu was the CM in 1990s, he had visited Kalahandi once and was injured in a stone pelting incident. When I inquired about the bleeding, he had assured me that there was nothing to worry about. He said that the people of Kalahandi loved him and he reciprocates that love and respect. He was determined to work hard towards the development of the district,” Patnaik mentioned,
“When I had the opportunity to serve Odisha, Biju Babu’s words resonated in my mind and guided me to work towards the development of Kalahandi,” Patnaik added whereas praising the district’s progress in agriculture and turning into the second largest paddy producing district within the state.
Noting that the deliberate makes an attempt by some folks to maintain Kalahandi poverty stricken have failed, he said that the irrigation potential within the state has elevated three fold whereas fish manufacturing has considerably gone up. Rs 1200 crore has additionally been disbursed on to the financial institution accounts of the farmers of Kalahandi in the course of the paddy procurement season.
Meanwhile Leader of Opposition in Odisha Assembly and BJP’s Bhawanipatna MLA Pradipta Naik who skipped the occasion calling it an opulent expenditure “Why such lavish amount was spent for the event that too from the government exchequer when all of us battling the pandemic,” Naik mentioned. The state authorities is claiming credit for tasks that are funded by the Central authorities, which isn’t ethically appropriate, he added.