Travesty of truth
Oil Minister Dharmendra Pradhan may not be a doctor to diagnose a disease and prescribe medicine, but a political analyst par excellence to put the corruption ridden Odisha Government on the dock. According to him, the Government has not been able to recover from its 16-year-old disease of sloganeering against the Centre. Supply of drinking water to all during its tenure of 16 years is the biggest failure of the Government. Only 2 per cent population gets water for their families. 75 per cent families in the rural areas don’t have toilets in their home and over 3,000 villages do not get electricity. The chit fund victims have not been compensated; unemployment is on the rise. These are the symptoms of a static, incapable and corrupt Government, he alleged during one of his visits to Odisha recently. Dharmendra called the Government of Odisha a ‘cheat’ of the first order. The Prime Minister’s scheme for providing house to all has commenced and Odisha’s annual quota will be enhanced under the scheme. The Central assistance provided to the State is being covered under the carpet. In a bid to corner the credit for his Government, Panchayati Raj Minister of Odisha Arun Sahu recently announced that three lakh pucca houses have been built over three years. Four months later how the Government could build seven lakh houses is a million dollar question, which is a travesty of truth, contended Dharmendra. Agreed, all these allegations may be true. But according to the vox populi the disease has been transmitted from the BJP when they were ‘bed partners’ for long years.
BJP’s likely turn in Odisha
Dr Sambit Patra is one among the persons with enough potential to guide Odisha’s destiny in future. His uncanny wit as a spokesman of BJP has earned him a place in the nation’s political arena. On verbal duel his attacking and defensive approach on national television programmes are a treat to watch. No wonder, this flamboyant spokesman is today a cynosure of BJP’s political stalwarts who have a mind to recommend him for a Rajya Sabha seat either from Haryana or Chhattishgarh. Dr Patra’s rise in BJP at the centre will have a positive impact on Odisha politics where Dharmendra Pradhan may be sidelined and Odisha will get one more contender for Chief Minister’s post. In the event of both of them working together to steer the destiny of Odisha, BJP’s strength will be doubled to corner BJD in the 2019 elections. That is how the next few days are crucial for Odisha politics as the Rajya Sabha election for 57 posts is round the corner. Once Patra gets into Rajya Sabha either from Chhattisgarh or Haryana quota he will try to assert himself in his home district Jajpur where the BJD is faction-ridden and he is potent enough to upset the BJD apple cart there.
RSP hosp into MCH
Union Tribal Affairs Minister Jual Oram and Rourkela MlA Dilip Ray recently reviewed the progress of the proposed medical college and super specialty hospital at the RSP-run IGH which was promised to the people of Rourkela by Narendra Modi on April 1, 2015. Already one year on, the progress on this front is not satisfactory and that is the reason why a high level meeting was convened. Despite being a loss making unit of SAIl, RSP’s commitment for the project sounds a note of optimism as revealed by its CEO Aswini Kumar in the meeting. Medicip Project Consultant which has been appointed as its consultant has submitted the feasibility report based on which a board note has been prepared for discussion at the Board meeting of SAIl. On approval of the Board, the consultant will prepare a detailed project report (DPR) and tender will be floated. Meanwhile, RSP has signed a memorandum with the Chain Appolo Hospital, Hyderabad for visit of Nephrology and Oncology specialists on 2nd Saturday and of Cardiology and Neurology on 4th Saturday of every month for which a new specialist clinic centre has been opened recently. This will be widely advertised for patients to take advantage from, says a Press release of RSP. But coming back to the main issue which has a political undertone, will the promise of Narendra Modi gets translated into action before 2019. Similarly, the second bridge on river Brahmani which was announced by Prime Minister Modi sparks a note of despair as floating of the tender keeps on missing several deadlines. Ray and Oram are trying their best to keep the facts and figures in the public domain for the sake of transparency lest the whole effort should not become a wild goose chase.
Hirakud’s topmost concern
The rover Mahanadi is the lifeline of Odisha. That is why the Hirakud Dam is not the sole concern of Sambalpur. The water bearing capacity of the dam has reduced by 28 per cent which means the capacity has come down from 8,141 million cusec metres to 5,822 million cusec metres. In the revised detailed project report of 2000 water level has reduced to 5,896 million cusec meters and the dead storage level to 1,246 million cusec metres. The utilisation capacity has also reduced by 17.16 per cent and the dead storage level by 53.72 per cent. Hirakud dam receives water from its catchment area spread across 83,400 sqkm and it is natural that the river carries huge quantity of sludge from the low lying area between the hills and mountains in to the dam. As forests are being denuded and trees are felled in the upper catchment area, unbounded quantities of sludge enter into the dam raising the dead storage level. Now the National Remote Sensing Agency of Hyderabad has been appointed to estimate the quantity of silt deposit in Hirakud dam. The IIT, Madras has also been involved in the project to spot the area of slit deposit along with estimation of the quantity. But it is surprising that steps are being taken now when problem has reached the neck deep level. Why can’t the sludge clearance job is taken up annuallyIJ Maintaining the water level as per the DPR will help irrigate wider areas, besides improving the power generation capacity.
(The writer, a public relations expert, is a functional editor of English weekly Kosal Horizon, email: baidyanathmishra123@rediffmail.com Cell: 94370 83025)