Rs. 1000 crore for Keonjhar's projects.

As large parts of mineral-rich Keonjhar district are facing drinking water scarcity, the State Government on Tuesday directed Collector Ashish Kumar Thakare to take up drinking water projects on saturation mode to meet requirement of all the villages.The district, which suffered maximum environmental degradation due to mining operations, has been allotted Rs. 1,017 crore from district mineral foundation (DMF) fund for undertaking social infrastructure projects.

Lack of perennial water source is the major hurdle in the way of execution of several drinking water projects sanctioned for the district. This came to the notice of Chief Secretary AP Padhi during a review of the projects sanction under DMF and Odisha Mineral Bearing Area Development Corporation (OMBADC) here.The Chief Secretary asked the Collector to ensure completion of the projects facing problems due to locational disadvantage of the water source and re-estimate the cost of such projects for drawing water from next available source. Funds should be pulled in from all available sources to complete those project without delay.

Informed sources from the district said groundwater table has plummeted sharply in some areas while water bodies have gone dry in other parts. People living in these water scarcity areas have no choice but to collect water from streams not suitable for human consumption. The review revealed that in addition to the ongoing projects and programmes financed from budgetary sources, 564 more projects have been envisaged from the DMF and OMBADC funds.

Thakare told the meeting that as of now, 551 projects estimated at `1,017 cr have been sanctioned under DMF.These projects are in the sectors of health, infrastructure, education, skill development, irrigation, watershed development, women empowerment, child welfare and afforestation. As many as 120 projects have been completed and others are in various stages of implementation.

THE NEW INDIAN EXPRESS