Balangir: On the direction of chief minister Naveen Patnaik, a high-level committee on Wednesday visited the district to discuss the development of two major temples and their periphery.
The committee comprising chief secretary Suresh Chandra Mahapatra, 5T secretary VK Pandian, chairman of Western Odisha Development Council (WODC) and principal advisor to Chief Minister Asit Kumar Tripathy, visited Nrusinghanath temple and Harishankar temple.
Speaking to mediapersons, the chief secretary said the state government will engage specialised teams and architects to prepare a master plan for development of the two temples and their periphery to attract tourists. Besides, steps will be taken for their accommodation.
Mohapatra also said the development of Nrusighanath-Harishankar trekking route was also discussed at the meeting. Besides, development and heritage conservation of these two temples and their beautification, pilgrim amenities, approach roads, tourist facilities, the feasibility of ropeway, facilities for marriage halls, water conservation features also featured in the meeting, he added.
The committee along with principal secretary, Water Resources Anu Garg and other senior officials later visited the Lower Suktel Irrigation Project at Magurbeda and reviewed its status. Apart from engineering and proposed enhanced irrigational aspects, the committee members discussed the compensation against the land acquisition, rehabilitation and resettlement of the displaced people and directed the officials concerned to settle these issues and expedite the project work.
Among others, Balangir collector Chanchal Rana, SP Nitin Kushalkar and senior district officials were present.
