Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Friday inaugurated two major irrigation projects in Mayurbhanj district.
Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Friday, August 12 inaugurated two irrigation projects in President Droupadi Murmu’s district as Patnaik’s Biju Janata Dal (BJD) aims to counter the BJP’s development push in the tribal heartland of Mayurbhanj.
Patnaik’s whistle-stop visit to Mayurbhanj is considered to be the BJD’s strategy to counter the BJP’s alleged attempt to take mileage from the presidential election and create an impression among the people of the state that Murmu, regarded as the ‘daughter of the soil’, could occupy the highest post due to the efforts of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The Deo and Subarnarekha projects, worth Rs 1,508 crore, will provide irrigation facilities to more than 27,000 hectares of land, benefiting more than 2.5 lakh farmers.
Mayurbhanj is well-known across the country for its art and culture. Droupadi Murmu, a daughter of Mayurbhanj, has made all Odias proud by becoming the President of India. I am extremely happy to launch two irrigation projects in Mayurbhanj today. The farmers of the district will be immensely benefited by the two projects,” CM Patnaik said.
The Subarnarekha project will provide irrigation facilities for 17,121 hectares of agricultural land in Mayurbhanj and Balasore districts. Over 55,000 farmers in both the districts will benefit from the project, which was constructed at a cost of Rs 685 crore.
Similarly, about 10,000 hectares of land in Mayurbhanj will be irrigated through the Deo project. It will benefit 2 lakh people in 100 villages of the tribal district.
Highlighting his state government’s developmental programmes in agriculture, education and health, the chief minister said that all such programmes have empowered the people.
On the transformation of schools, Patnaik said that it has increased confidence among children.
Notably, during her visit to the Odisha Assembly to meet all party MLAs, President Droupadi Murmu had urged Patnaik to give a special focus to the tribal-dominated areas of Mayurbhanj, which were lagging behind in development.
Mayurbhanj is considered a stronghold of the BJP where the saffron candidates had won six of the nine assembly seats in the district apart from the Lok Sabha seat. However, the political equation changed during the rural poll when the people voted in favour of the BJD and elected 56 of the district’s 59 zilla parishad seats.
