Bhubaneswar: By overseeing the election of civilian bodies, scheduled to be held next year, Chairman of the Naveen Patnaik Minister on Saturday Sanction Rs 500 Crore to repair various roads, waterways and pathways in damaged urban areas.
The minister’s chairman directs the housing and the urban development department to immediately start repair work so that they can be completed before the following season.
The funds will be approved for all 114 urban local agencies in Odisha based on their needs to take jobs.
The housing and urban development department will immediately set up detailed guidelines to spend funds in the specified time, an official said.
The source said the funds had been subject to sanctions after the state government faced debris from a different quarter over the death of a 15-year-old boy in open disposal after heavy rain in September.
As big cities, including state capital, witnessing waterlogging during the rainy season, waterways will be repaired and the main design is changed.
With the upcoming Civic body poll, the government led by BJD plans to strengthen urban infrastructure to collect urban population support.
The official said most of the funds would be spent in Bhubaneswar and Cuttack and three other city companies to close channels and clear encroachment on natural gutters to prevent moving water.
The BMC source said it had identified 75 locations in the city for waterlogging.
Following urban flood reports, the assembly committee on urban development in October requested the urban development department to prepare a comprehensive master plan in coordination with various institutions to resolve problems in the twin cities of Cuttack and Bhubaneswar.
Because the floods and puddles of streets are a matter of eternal Cuttack, the country’s cabinet in June also agreed to the proposal for the construction of a box box in the city with an investment of Rs 450 Crore.
The project, which will be taken under the Japanese International Cooperation Agency (JICA) -Pidata Integrated Odisha integrated sanitation improvement project, is targeted to be completed in December next year.