Bolangir: Even as all preparations are in place for laying the foundation stone of an LPG bottling plant at Barkani village on the town’s outskirt May 21, the project ran into problems due to lack of road connectivity to the site.
Union petroleum minister Dharmendra Pradhan and social justice and empowerment minister Thewar Chand Gehlot will lay the foundation stone of the plant Monday.
The bottling plant will come up on an area of 23.12 acres out of 60 acres at phase-2 of IDCO growth-shed in the village by Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd (BPCL). The plant will have a factory shed, a godown, an office, a guard room, area for green belt development and open spaces on the project site.
It will produce 42 lakh cylinders annually and is expected to become functional by 2020. The unit has spread cheers among residents as they hoped that it would bring in development in the area and would help generate employment in a district like Bolangir that lacks major industries.
However, the fate of the project was pushed into uncertainty after the project site was found lacking a road connectivity. The authorities despite exploring all options have failed to identify a suitable land to build a road to the project site even two years after the proposal was floated.
Meanwhile, the plant authorities have started construction of a boundary wall of the project and were found using the provisional road on Banjimunda minor irrigation project (MIP) to transport raw materials and labourers to the project site.
However, the Barkani villagers are opposed to the use of the road as they apprehend the plant will seriously affect the water retaining capacity of the irrigation project. Their opposition stems from the fact that the reservoir helps in irrigating hundreds of acres in the area.
The district administration assigned the task of identifying the land for a road to IDCO and the minor irrigation department. However, they are yet to arrive at a solution. They are clueless as to how the water entering the reservoir will not be blocked and a road could simultaneously be built for the plant.
