Chief Secretary and Secretary(5T) visit Kalahandi District, take stock of ongoing construction of new Medical College, review Covid -19 situation

Bhubaneswar, 31/7:As per direction of the Odisha Chief Minister Shri Naveen Patnaik, Chief Secretary Shri Suresh Mohapatra and Secretary (5-T) Shri V.K. Pandian along with senior officials visited Kalahandi District today and reviewed preparation of possible 3rd wave and progress of various developmental projects in the district with focus on healthcare, irrigation and education.

After landing at Utkela Airstrip, Chief Secretary reviewed the present status and ongoing development of Utkela Airstrip. The commercial operations to Bhawanipatna to Bhubaneswar and Raipur are expected to start soon.

Then, the team visited the construction site Medical College and 650-bedTeaching Hospital in Bhawanipatna. The Medical College is targeted to be completed by December 2021. Secretary (5-T) emphasised on timely completion with quality control.

The Collector briefed on the Covid situation and preparation for Covid third wave. This was followed by review of various ongoing developmental projects in the district. The Kesinga- Bolangir 220 KV line was reviewed in detail and Chief Secretary directed the OPTCL and Forest offcials to ensure early clearance of the way for completion of the stringing work. Secretary (5-T) discussed the impact of the newly inaugurated mega irrigation project on Indravati river and asked collector to ensure that the irrigation water is reaching to all the beneficiaries. The Sandul Irrigation project in M. Rampur and other Mega Lift irrigation projects in the district were also reviewed in detail.

The new bus stand project in Bhawanipatna was also reviewed and it was directed to complete within 6 months.

Collector was directed to expedite the land acquisition and forest clearance for the Narla Loco shed project at the earliest.

As part of High School Transformation programme under 5T initiative, 26 High schools have been taken up with active participation of the SMDC members, alumni, teachers, and students in the district of Kalahandi.

The team visited Town High School and B.M. High School at Bhawanipatna and interacted with the teachers, alumni and students. They visited Smart classrooms , Science labs, E-library and Toilets and expressed satisfaction over the present status of work and advised for proper maintenance.

MD NHM Shalini Pandit, Special Secretary to CM Vineel Krishna, Collector Kalahandi Dr. Gavali Parag Harshad, SP Kalahandi Dr. Sarvana Vivek M, PD,DRDA Somesh Upadhayay and District Level Officials were present during the visit.