With a view to expedite various water supply and sewerage projects in the state, the Orissa government has decided to expedite the land acquisition for these projects. This was decided in a meeting between the revenue and housing and urban development departments.
The projects which coul not make any headway due to land acquisition problems are integrated water supply project in Puri implemented under Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM), Greater Bhubaneswar Sewerage project and Orissa Integrated Sanitation Improvement Project (Cuttack and Bhubaneswar).
The collectors concerned have been asked to initiate steps for expediting land acquisition, minister for revenue and disaster management, Surya Narayan Patro said.
Talking to the mediapersons after the meeting, Patro said, about 186 acres of government land and 376 acres of private land is required for the integrated water supply project in Puri and the district collector has been asked to expedite the process.
For the sewerage project in Puri, about 0.340 acres of land is required which included 0.240 acres belonging to the Jagannath temple and 0.100 acres to the Mathas. Steps would be taken within 15 days to acquire this land. Similarly, 176 acres of private land would be required for the Greater Bhubaneswar Sewerage Project, the minister added.
He said, for JICA (Japan International Co-operation Agency ) assisted Orissa Integrated Sanitation Improvement Project (Cuttack and Bhubaneswar), 73 acres of land would be required.Out of it, 67 acres belong to government and the remaining 6 acres are private land.
Since the government land is at present under the possession of various departments and development authorities, they have been asked to surrender the land to the revenue department which in turn would transfer it to the housing and urban development department.