Bhubaneswar: Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi inaugurated and laid the foundation stones for 50 development projects worth around Rs 960 crore in Odisha’s Sambalpur district on Wednesday.
The Chief Minister also inaugurated a doppler weather radar (DWR) station in Sambalpur to strengthen weather forecasting and disaster management across western Odisha.
The projects include 15 completed schemes worth Rs 133.47 crore that were inaugurated and 35 new projects worth Rs 825.83 crore for which foundation stones were laid. The projects cover health, rural development, sports, roads and buildings, and water resources.
Among the major projects are schemes worth Rs 585 crore in the roads and buildings sector, Rs 220.56 crore in mega lift irrigation, Rs 8.88 crore in minor irrigation, Rs 74.72 crore in sports infrastructure and Rs 60.50 crore for rural development projects in Kuchinda.
The 24-hour operational radar can provide accurate weather data within a radius of 250 km and track weather movements up to 450 km, according to the information shared at the event.
It will provide weather-related information to 13 districts — Sambalpur, Bargarh, Jharsuguda, Sundargarh, Deogarh, Subarnapur, Balangir, Boudh, Nuapada, Angul, Kalahandi, Keonjhar and Dhenkanal — besides covering parts of neighbouring Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand.
The radar will help provide advance information on thunderstorms, lightning, hailstorms and heavy rainfall. It is also expected to benefit farmers, particularly in the Mahanadi basin and Bargarh, a major agricultural region of Odisha.
The system will estimate rainfall every 10 minutes at a resolution of 150 metres, helping improve the management of inflows into the Hirakud dam. It is also expected to support precautionary measures in sectors such as power, industry, transport and grid operations.
Majhi said the Sambalpur radar has special regional significance and would bring a large part of Odisha under a stronger weather forecasting network. He said similar Doppler Weather Radars would be established in Balasore, Bhubaneswar and Puri in the coming days.
Addressing the gathering, Majhi said Sambalpur represents the art, culture and traditions of western Odisha and has emerged as an important centre of the state government’s development initiatives under the vision of a ‘Prosperous Odisha 2036’.
He said development works worth around Rs 1,910 crore had been undertaken in Sambalpur between January and September this year.
The Chief Minister recalled that in January this year, projects worth Rs 948 crore and 50 electric buses were launched in Sambalpur. He also highlighted an allocation of Rs 238.14 crore for the Ainthapali Bus Terminal and its 10-year maintenance.
Under AMRUT 2.0, a Rs 450-crore ‘Drink From Tap’ project is being implemented to supply 100 million litres of treated water to 41 wards, with the aim of addressing drinking water shortages and reducing problems related to jaundice.
Expansion works on the Burla and Hirakud ring roads and the Remed-Hirakud four-lane road are also progressing, he said.
Other major projects highlighted include the Rs 1,521-crore four-lane bypass, expansion of VIMSAR at a cost of Rs 1,700 crore, a Rs 100-crore Aqua Park and the Rs 100-crore Samalei Phase-II project.
Majhi also highlighted major industrial investments in western Odisha, saying a Rs 40,000-crore expansion of Hindalco is being undertaken at Lapanga, while JSW-JFE Steel is implementing a Rs 32,000-crore project at Rengali.
He said work was also underway on Krushi Bhawan, girls’ hostel, modernisation of the Sambalpur Football Academy and the Hirakud Dam Master Plan.
The state government has set a target of transforming Odisha into a $500-billion economy by 2036 and a $1.5-trillion economy by 2047, he said.
Union Minister of State for Earth Sciences Jitendra Singh, in a virtual address, described the Sambalpur radar as an important milestone in strengthening India’s weather forecasting system.
Singh said another 40 Doppler Weather Radars would be added across the country in the coming days to improve weather forecasting coverage.
Revenue and Disaster Management Minister Suresh Pujari said the installation of the radar in western Odisha fulfilled a long-standing demand of the region. He said the state government was strengthening its early-warning and disaster preparedness systems under its ‘Zero Casualty’ approach.
The radar, he said, would provide farmers, residents and disaster response agencies across western Odisha with advance information on lightning, heavy rainfall and storms.
The event was attended by Rajya Sabha MP Manmohan Samal, MLA Jayanarayan Mishra, India Meteorological Department Director General Dr Mrutyunjay Mohapatra, Special Relief Commissioner Rajesh Prabhakar Patil, Northern Range DIG Charan Singh Meena, Sambalpur Collector Siddheshwar Baliram Bondar and other senior officials and members of the public.