The State administration is ready to welcome Prime Minister Narendra Modi at Chiyanki Air Strip near Daltonganj in Palamu, where the PM will lay foundation of six multi crore water projects in the State. Chief Minister Raghubar Das alongwith some of the Cabinet Ministers of the State Government have already reached Palamu to review the preparations of the event, which is also likely to be attended by Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar.
The PM will lay the foundation of the remaining works of the Mandal dam lying in limbo since more than three decades. PM will also do online foundation for revival or renovation of reservoirs falling in the districts of Garhwa, Chatra and Chaibasa. He will lay the foundation for the piped water supply from two rivers Sone and Kanhar for Palamu and Garhwa. Apart from this 25,000 PMAY Rural and Urban will be blessed by the PM on this occasion.
After reviewing the preparations, CM Raghubar Das said that the PM is committed to the multidimensional development of farmers, villages, women, poor and youths. “The State government also feels proud of the farmers of the State, who brought the agricultural growth rate to 14 per cent from -4 per cent in just four years. The State Government is also supporting them with all possible means and is working on quadrupling their income,” he said.
The CM said that with the foundation stone laying of six ambitious projects Palamu, Garhwa and other districts will tread the path of development after 47 years’ wait.
According to officials the PM’s visit here has come as a big shot in the arm of the BJP leadership here. BJP district president Narender Pandey said the resumption of work at the Mandal dam will change the rural economy of the people of Palamu and Garhwa. Mandal dam has a history, which very few dams could have witnessed. It saw the murder of the superintending engineer Baijnath Mishra who was killed at his official residence in Mandal in mid nineties.
Sources said if the dam suffered this massive set back it faced no less a severe jolt from the forest department which kept refusing forest clearance citing habitat hazards to the wild life of the Palamu tiger reserve. It was PMO which put its leg too forward and got things done wherein MoEF and CC gave clearance and this dam is now armed with stage two clearance.
Locals said Chatra BJP MP Sunil Singh pursued this case of dam during the time of its frequent changed union irrigation ministers like Prakash Javedkar and Nitin Gadkari. Mandal dam’s fate opened finally when Gadkari came too openly out for its re start.
The foot march of former Congress MLA K N Tripathi has been halted by Palamu administration and Tripathi has been detained which DC Palamu Shantanu K Agrahari confirmed but declined to give exact location of his detention with followers.