[In Pic] Odisha Chief Secy Reviews Hockey Stadium Progress, Other Projects In Rourkela

Rourkela: Odisha Chief Secretary Suresh Chandra Mahapatra and Secretary to CM (5T) V K Pandian on Friday visited Rourkela to review the progress of work on the Birsa Munda International Hockey Stadium and other development projects.

After arriving in the Steel City, Mahapatra and Pandian first reviewed the progress of the Birsa Munda International Hockey Stadium at BPUT Campus and advised officials concerned to expedite the work.

Odisha will host the 2023 Men’s Hockey World Cup. The matches will be held jointly at Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneswar and the Birsa Munda International Hockey Stadium in Rourkela.

It will be India’s largest hockey stadium with a spectator capacity of over 20,000.

The delegation also visited Udit Nagar High School. Government schools in Sundargarh are getting a facelift under the ‘High School Transformation Under 5T’ initiative.

Work is ongoing to transform 100 more schools after Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik dedicated 67 transformed high schools in Sundargarh during Phase 1 of the programme.

Rourkela has been placed among the Top 15 global cities in Bloomberg International Global Mayors Challenge 2021.

The delegation also visited a 5-MT cold storage facility at VSS Market, Chhend. Maa Tarini SHG, a local Women Self-Help Group, has been engaged to manage the cold storage.

Various development projects are being accelerated under Rourkela Smart City — a traffic command centre, tribal museum, convention hall and market complex among others. Road construction and city beautification are also being done on a war-footing to make the city ready for tourists and visitors ahead of the Hockey World Cup.

Principal Secretary (Industries) Hemant Sharma, Secretary (Sports and Youth Services) R Vineel Krishna and Managing Director (IDCO) Bhupinder Singh Poonia were part of the delegation.

Rourkela MLA & District Planning Committee Chairman Sarada Prasad Nayak, Sundargarh Collector Nikhil Pavan Kalyan, Rourkela ADM cum RMC Commissioner Subhankar Mohapatra and senior district and RMC officials were present on the occasion.