Nabarangpur: The government has decided to launch welfare measures for people displaced by the Indrawati hydropower project in the Tentulikhunti block of Nabarangpur district.
Recently a high-level meeting was held by the Revenue and Disaster Management Department in Bhubaneswar. The meet decided to irrigate the farmlands of the displaced at the lower end of the project using bore-wells. The primary health centre at Khatiguda will be upgraded into a community health centre.
Scores of families were displaced by the hydropower project at Khatiguda. They lost their farmlands and homesteads. The displaced people had been complaining that the government was not meeting their basic needs.
Bore-wells will be dug in clusters for farmers living at the lower end of the project. Funds for this will be provided by the Odisha Hydro Power Corporation (OHPC).
The OHPC will also provide funds to supply piped drinking water and will also dig tube-wells for the displaced. The irrigation and drinking water projects will be managed jointly.
The Khatiguda High School and UP School will be handed over to the School and Mass Education Department. The department will also appoint staff in schools.
The OHPC will sanction Rs20 lakh from its peripheral development fund to execute development projects for the displaced. Unused lands and quarters will be handed over to IDCO to provide infrastructure for the displaced.
Security forces will be deployed at the water reservoir and CCTVs and lighting will be installed.
A motorized boat, capable of ferrying 40 passengers at one time will be provided to people to enable them to cross the reservoir. OHPC will bear the cost of the boat service and staff. Land issues of the displaced will be given priority.
PNN