No Drones At PM’s Venues During Odisha Visit; 1st Train To Sonepur, Sambalpur Station Revamp Plans On Itinerary

Bhubaneswar:  The Odisha government has banned use of drones at venues where Prime Minister Narendra Modi is scheduled to visit in Odisha’s Sambalpur on February 3.

PM Modi is scheduled to inaugurate the permanent campus of the Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Sambalpur and lay the foundation stones of several other projects during the one-day visit to the state. He will also address a public rally near Remed Chhak and sound the clarion call for BJP’s aggressive campaign in western Odisha ahead of the upcoming elections. It is likely to be attended by around 150,000 people.

The PM will be arriving at IIM-Sambalpur at 2.15 pm on February 3. He will reach the institute in a special Indian Air Force aircraft from Jharsuguda airport, informed IIM director Mahadeo Jaiswal, adding that the inauguration ceremony will be attended by around 4,000 people, including students, staff, and teachers.

Sources said the Special Protection Group (SPC) is against use of drone cameras at any of the venues either in Jharsuguda or in Sambalpur as it had sensed a threat to the PM’s security when these were used to shoot his visit to Bahanaga in Balasore a day after the triple train crash in June last year.

Chief Secretary Pradeep Jena also reviewed security arrangements for smooth conduct of the PM’s events at a high-level meeting at Lok Seva Bhawan here on Thursday. Director General of Police (DGP) Arun Kumar Sarangi said that they are yet to receive the detailed programme but the advance security indication has come and security arrangements are being made accordingly in Sambalpur.

Besides the IIM-Sambalpur campus, PM Modi will lay foundation stone for redevelopment of Sambalpur railway station to be implemented at a cost of Rs 348 crore. He will dedicate Talcher-Sambalpur doubling project (168.2 km) and the Jhartarbha-Sonepur new line (21.7 km) of Khurda-Balangir project to the nation. He will also flag off the new Puri-Sonepur-Puri weekly Express via Talcher. This will be the first train to Sonepur district.

The PM’s visit to Sambalpur holds significance as western Odisha region is the bastion of the BJP. Five of the eight Lok Sabha members of the party are from western Odisha. And it is expected to give a huge fillip to the prospects of Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, who is likely to contest from the Sambalpur Lok Sabha constituency.

In Jharsuguda too, Modi will inaugurate several projects and also lay the foundation stones for new projects. He will launch power projects worth nearly Rs 29,000 crore, which includes laying the foundation stone for state-run National Thermal Power Corporation’s (NTPC) Talcher-III Thermal Power Project (2×660 MW) and inauguration of its Darlipali Super Thermal Power Project (2×800 MW).

Modi will also lay the foundation stone for the first phase of Neyveli Lignite Corporation’s Talabira Thermal Power Project (3×800 MW) and inaugurate the doubling of the Jharsuguda-Barpali-Sardega railway line and at least three first-mile coal connectivity projects. He will also inaugurate NSPCL (NTPC-SAIL Power Company Limited) Rourkela Power Plant-II Expansion Project (1×250 MW) which would provide reliable power to the Rourkela Steel Plant.