Bhubaneswar: August 16: 691 villages of 30 blocks in 8 districts have been brought under the purview of Odisha Mineral Bearing Areas Development Corporation (OMBADC) fund for inclusive developmental activities. This was decided in the OMBADC review meeting taken by Chief Secretary Sri Aditya Prasad Padhi in secretariat conference hall today wherein Additional Chief Secretary Forest & Environment Sri Suresh Chandra Mohapatra outlined the issues for discussion.
Reviewing activities of the Corporation, Chief Secretary Sri Padhi directed the Chief Executive Officer and PCCF Sri Subash Chnadra Mishra to prioritize housing, drinking water, sanitation and afforestation activities on saturation mode in all these villages. Sri Padhi also directed all departments to implement the schemes of their respective departments on saturation mode covering all eligible households. Development Commissioner Sri R.Balakrishnan advised to ensure road connectivity along with service availability in all remote and isolated hamlets of the area.
Available data show, OMBADC was incorporated as a non-profit Govt company in the year, 2014 for carrying forward holistic developmental activities in the mining affected areas. PCCF Sri Mishra appraised that about 50% of NPV collected from the mining leases would be utilized through this corporation for basic developmental activities in the identified villages. State Govt had provided Rs.1 lakh as token share capital at the initial level for formation of the Corporation. So far, the Corporation has got a fund of around Rs.1000 cr .
In the mean while, survey of the mining affected areas has been completed and 691 villages under 129 GPs of 30 blocks in 8 districts have been identified for inclusion under the OMBADC fund. These districts are Angul, Dhenkanal, Jajpur, Jharsuguda, Kendujhar, Koraput, Mayurbhanj and Sundargarh.
As of now, the projects of worth Rs.900 cr have been approved for these villages. These include 29,829 housing units, 196 drinking water projects, 855 hector block plantation, 842 kms of avenue plantation, 3600 hectors of assisted natural regeneration and 9800 seedling plantation in towns of the mining affected areas.
Chief Secretary Sri Padhi directed the Panchayati Raj and Drinking Water department to complete all the housing projects by December, 2017. The department was also asked to ensure piped water supply to each and every household in the identified villages. “Each new house being constructed, directed the Chief Secretary, “must have a toilet and running water”. The forest department was asked to intensify plantation activities for increasing green coverage in the area. It was further decided to take up intensive soil and moister conservation activities in all forest pockets of the identified area.
The Development Commissioner Sri R. Balakrishnan, Principal Secretary Finance Sri Tuhin Kanta Pandey, Principal Secretary Steel & Mines Sri Raj Kumar Sharma, Principal Secretary Rural Development Sri Bishnu Prasad Sethi, Secretary ST & SC Development Sri Surendra Kumar, Secretary Panchayati Raj Sri Deo Ranjan Kumar Singh, Secretary Works Sri Nalini Kanta Pradhan, CEO ORSAC Sri Sandeep Tripathy along with other senior officers from respective departments participated in discussion.
