Projects worth Rs 640.65 crore were approved under the Odisha Mineral Bearing Areas Development Corporation (OMBADC) for development of secondary schools, environmental monitoring and sports development in urban local bodies (ULBs) of the minerals-bearing districts on Tuesday.
The approvals were accorded in the Board of Directors meeting held under the chairmanship of Chief Secretary SC Mahapatra wherein OMBADC Chief Executive Officer Uma Nanduri presented the necessity and expected outcome of the projects for discussion. Giving nod to the projects, Mahapatra directed to provide global-level education and exposure to the students under the secondary school development programme.
He said that since the smart classroom, e-library, science lab, ICT lab would be developed through the new project, the teachers must focus on providing best education to the students with global exposure. “Such facilities should enable our children to compete with any one at national and global levels,” he said.
He also emphasised on development of the playground and joyful ambiance and a learning ecosystem. Nanduri appraised that total 889 secondary schools in the districts of Angul, Dhenkanal, Deogarh, Jajpur, Jharsuguda, Mayurbhaj and Sundargarh districts are included in the project with an estimated amount of Rs 533.40 crore.
The proposal for development of multipurpose indoor stadiums estimated at a total cost of Rs 104.15 crore for 11 ULBs in mining-affected districts was also sanctioned.
These included nine municipalities namely Belpahar, Brajrajnagar, Anandpur, Barbil, Birmitrapur, Rajganjpur, Rourkela, Joda and Vyasnagar and two NACs namely Champua and Udala.
A project on application of ICT and data science for development of the environmental information system in the mining areas estimated at Rs 3.10 crore was also sanctioned.
The project envisages development of a comprehensive database on periodic environmental data collected from mines through different statutory returns, clearances and compliances. The data generated should be used in curtailing pollution and decision-making activities regarding mining operations.