Bhubaneswar: The battle for political one-upmanship has started between the BJP and the BJD over the proposed establishment of a fish market at Pandara on the outskirts of Odisha’s capital city with Bhubaneswar MP Aparajita Sarangi and city mayor Sulochana Das claiming credit for it.
While informing that the Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairy had approved the project worth Rs 50 crore, Aparajita hailed the double engine government and claimed that she had been pursuing it with the Centre.
The Parliamentarian mentioned that she had requested Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi to support the establishment of the modern fish market in Bhubaneswar in September 2024. “According to this meeting with him, a detailed project report was prepared and the state government identified 5.80 units of land in Pandara, North Bhubaneswar. I continued to discuss with the Government of India on this matter,” she said in a Facebook post on Wednesday.
Also Read: Bridge On Bhubaneswar’s Gangua Nullah To Be Widened To 6 Lanes, Informs Aparajita Sarangi
Reacting to the development, Bhubaneswar Mayor Sulochana Das expressed happiness over the Centre’s nod to the DPR, which she claimed had been pending for a long time. “In 2023, during the tenure of the former CM Naveen Patnaik, we had received a letter from the fishery department, which had kept aside a budget of Rs 50 crore for the project. The initial design of the modern fish market included a cold storage, with a section for vegetable sellers since the area identified earlier for it at Palasuni was huge. We had then decided to take it up if the Centre did not consent to it. Later the vegetable section was removed and a part of the plot was allotted to the cyber police station. Following which, a 5.5 acre land on a single stretch was selected at Pandara, where a road was built and soil testing conducted. It got delayed due to the election and the subsequent change in government,” she told reporters.
This market will be for wholesalers, she said, adding that they are waiting for the DPR to begin the work on the project.
The Mayor said that unfortunately some people are trying to take credit for it. “This proposal was made in 2023 and not 2024 as claimed by the Parliamentarian. We are here to work for the people and not take credit for those,” she added.
