Apprising the Prime Minister about the prevailing water scarcity and drought situation in the State, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Saturday urged the former to sanction an assistance of Rs2,345 crore to the State as sought in a memorandum.
Patnaik, who attended a high-level meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi, expressed concern that the Centre has approved only Rs815 crore and released only Rs600 crore to the State towards agricultural input subsidy against RsRs 2,345 crore sought for by the State.
Underlining that the State has not received any Central assistance for other critical interventions necessary for drought mitigation such as conversion of crop loans, minor irrigation projects, provision of fodder, food assistance and drinking water, Patnaik urged the PM to approve and release the balance shortfall of Rs1,745 crore to the State at the earliest. The CM informed the PM that over 29,000 villages under 233 blocks covering 27 districts out of 30 districts of the State have been severely impacted by the drought of 2015-16. He added that about 1.68 crore people comprising 40 per cent of the State’s population have been affected in varying degrees.
The CM informed the PM that Odisha was the first State to complete all the 30 District Irrigation Plans amounting to Rs35,000 crore and submitted the same in time to the Centre.
“In the last four years, Odisha has received only Rs210 crore under Accelerated Irrigation Benefit Programme (AIBP) against the recommendation of Rs1,257 crore from the Central Water Commission (CWC). Again, against the recommendation of Rs321 crore by CWC under Repair, Renovation and Rehabilitation (RRR) the State has received only Rscrore,” said Patnaik. He urged upon the PM to sanction the balance of Rs1,047 crore under AIBP and Rs156 crore under RRR Scheme.
Patnaik too expressed serious concern at the slow pace of works being undertaken by ASI for structural safety of Shree Jagannath Temple in general and Jagamohana in particular and demanded immediate intervention of the PM in this regard.
The PM assured to look into the concerns raised by the CM.