Bijubabu’s youngest child, Nuapada, grew up today. It has created a unique identity for itself in the development journey of Odisha. This trend of development would continue even further,” said Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Wednesday laying foundation stones and inaugurating various projects worth Rs 4,000 crore in the district.
The projects inaugurated included the Rs 220-crore Lower Indra Irrigation Project which would provide water to more than 18,000 acres of land in Komna, Nuapada, Sinapali and Boden blocks after its completion in December. This would benefit 1,80,000 people of 200 villages. The project based on underground pipeline technology would also irrigate another 7,500 acres after completion.
Patnaik said, “Bijubabu had declared Nuapada a separate district in 1999. When asked why he declared a small region as a district, Bijubabu had said Nuapada is the youngest child of mother Odisha. It is also far away (from the State headquarters). As every parent loves a child staying afar, he is also paying special attention to Nuapada.” Patnaik further said, “Nuapada has made most of the Biju Expressway.
Roads of 132 km at a cost of Rs 680 crore have been constructed in the district alone. The District Headquarters Hospital here is no lesser than the hospitals in the cities of the State.” The Chief Minister said the Government was able to save lives of thousands of children in the last ten years. The infant mortality rate in Nuapada has dropped dramatically. The Government has also done a great job in saving the lives of mothers.
Patnaik said that presence of fluoride in the water of the district is a major problem for the people. Women had to walk miles and miles to get good drinking water.However, the State Government now has provided piped water to 55 percent of homes in Nuapada.
More than 1,000 fluoride removal plants have been installed. More than 900 villages have been 100 percent relieved of the fluoride problem, said the Chief Minister.
“Not only that, but one lakh families in Nuapada have also been provided with piped water. By 2022, all households in Nuapada will be provided with 100 per cent piped water. For this, 205 Pipe Water Supply projects and one mega pipe water supply project worth Rs 400 crore are underway,” he added.
The Chief Minister further said that Nuapada which was a perpetual drought zone is writing a new history of development. Irrigation facilities in Nuapada have increased by 54 per cent. As a result rice production, cotton cultivation and maize cultivation have also increased.
Patnaik also announced the establishment of a science park and museum on the Lower Indra Dam site at a cost of Rs 3 crore. It would increase interest in science among children and also raise awareness for water conservation, he added.