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Bhubaneswar, Oct 27: With the aim to provide houses to the homeless in mining-affected areas, the state government Friday asked the departments concerned to ensure allotment of houses to all such persons in mineral bearing areas.
Chairing a high-level meeting to review progress of various projects under taken by Orissa Mineral Bearing Area Development Corporation (OMBADC), Chief Secretary Aditya Prasad Padhi directed officials concerned to prioritise providing houses to the homeless and on improving the living conditions of people in mining affected areas.
He asked the Panchayati Raj (PR), department to undertake a detailed survey of the homeless people and prepare a project for construction of houses for them under welfare schemes such as Basundhara. “At present, we have about Rs1,000 crore in the head of OMBADC. A plan has been drawn up at an estimated cost of Rs900 crore, mainly for housing project on the lines of Biju Pucca Ghara Yojana and drinking water. These are the two major projects undertaken,” Padhi said.
Besides these two, funds are being earmarked for plantation and skill development, he added. As far as the housing programme is concerned, it has made significant progress. Out of about 30,000 houses, 9,000 houses have been completed and 7,000 additional houses are at the finishing stage, Padhi said.
He added: “The identification of a source of drinking water is also a matter of concern. Identification of suitable sources take time in mining areas. However, we hope drinking water problems in 691 village panchayats will be solved within a year.”
OMBADC Chief Executive Officer, Subash Chandra Swain said projects worth Rs900 crore under OMBADC have been taken up in eight mining affected areas of eight districts. Issues concerning improvement in the living conditions of mine labourers of the area were also discussed at the meeting.
Padhi also directed all departments to implement schemes of their respective departments and ensure that all eligible households are covered. Development Commissioner R Balakrishnan asked the officials to ensure road connectivity, along with service availability in all remote and isolated hamlets of the area.
According to official sources, 691 villages of 129 GPs in 30 blocks of eight districts have been identified for inclusion under the OMBADC fund. The districts are Angul, Dhenkanal, Jajpur, Jharsuguda, Keonjhar, Koraput, Mayurbhanj and Sundargarh.
The projects include 29,829 housing units and 217 drinking water projects. Along with this, farm and social forestry in 1,938 hectares and avenue plantation along 535 km of road have been taken up during the year 2016-17. The chief secretary also asked for plantation of fruit-bearing plants through active involvement of the villagers.
