Odisha CM Announces Homestead Land for 2,000 Families Displaced by Hirakud Dam

Bhubaneswar:  Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Monday announced that his government will provide homestead land to 2000 families displaced due to the construction of the Hirakud dam in the 1960s.

The Chief Minister made this announcement while launching smart health cards for beneficiaries of the Biju Swasthya Kalyan Yojana (BSKY) in Jharsuguda district through video conference from Bhubaneswar.

With this announcement, the long standing demand of nearly 2000 families of Jharsuguda district displaced due to the Hirakud dam project will be fulfilled.

The smart health card launched for Jharsuguda will benefit 1.15 lakh people in the district. So far, 12 out of 30 districts in the state have participated in the smart health card programme.

On Monday, Patnaik also inaugurated various projects worth Rs 144 crore and laid the foundation stone for projects worth Rs 153 crore.

Inaugurating two water treatment plants for Jharsuguda and Brajarajnagar blocks in west Odisha, he said the projects will provide safe drinking water to the people residing there.

He informed that his government has taken up several piped water projects at an estimated cost of Rs 618 crore to provide safe drinking water to all towns and villages in Jharsuguda district.

All these projects benefiting 1.22 lakh families in the district would be completed by June 2023, he added.

Around 1,000 hectares of farmland has been irrigated under the Parbati Giri mega lift irrigation project. Apart from this project, four mega lift irrigation projects worth Rs 186 crore are underway in the district and the target of providing irrigation facilities to all parts of the district will be met soon, Patnaik said.

The Chief Minister said that the construction of a 100-bed cardiac hospital in Jharsuguda is nearing completion which will provide better treatment to people. Around Rs 102 crore has been spent on this healthcare project.

(IANS)