Berhampur: Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik Thursday promised to make Berhampur a model town and its drinking water problem solved by the end of next year.
“We have already taken steps to solve the drinking water problem in the town. It will be over by December next year,” the Chief Minister said, while addressing the celebration of 150 years of Berhampur Municipal Corporation (BMC) here. “Efforts are on to make Berhampur a model town,” he said.
In a bid to solve the drinking water problem in the town, the government has started the Janibili water supply project. The Rs 581.81-crore drinking water project work was started in November last year and scheduled to be completed by December next year.
Presently, the town requires around 64 million liters of water per day. The town, however is getting around 54-mld from various sources, including Dakhinapur reservoir and Rushikuya water supply system.
In his brief address, the Chief Minister also highlighted the history of Berhampur and its role in the freedom struggle. “One of the freedom fighters, tribal leader Laxmana Nayak, was hanged in the Berhampur circle jail here before Independence,” he said.
On occasion of celebration of 150 years of local self-governance, the Chief Minister inaugurated and laid foundation stones for several projects worth around Rs 100-crore of the BMC. Some of the major projects are World Bank assisted road projects under Odisha Disaster Recovery Project (ODRP) (Rs 42.38-crore), 13-km-long water pipeline project (Rs 27.18 crore), five urban primary health centres (Rs 2.20 crore), renovation of heritage public library (Rs 42 lakh) and a new e-library (Rs 27-lakh).
The Chief Minister also launched the online and cashless transactions of the civic body. All type of pensions would be directly transferred to the beneficiaries under the project. PTI