Bhubaneswar: After a gap of almost three years, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik is schedueled to visit Mayurbhanj on Friday to inaugurate the Subarnarekha irrigation project at Rasagobindapur and Deo irrigation project at Karia, which will give a major boost to agricultural activities in the district.
He is also likely to launch several other development projects. The chief minister’s office is preparing the final itinerary in coordination with the Mayurbhanj district administration, sources said.
Proposed in June 1994, the Subarnarekha irrigation project aims to irrigate 1,14,200 hectares of land in Mayurbhanj and Balasore districts. Naveen had launched the release of water from the project to 15,000 hectares in July 2021 and now he would launch the release of water for irrigation of 17,000 more hectares. The Deo irrigation project, proposed in 1992, would irrigate around 10,000 hectares in Mayurbhanj and Keonjhar districts.
The visit holds political significance with the BJD, which undertook several course correction measures after the drubbing in the 2017 panchayat polls followed by the Lok Sabha election in 2019, slowly regaining its lost ground in the tribal-dominated district. The BJP won six of the nine assembly segments along with the Mayurbhanj Lok Sabha seat in the 2019 elections. The February panchayat election marked the turn of the tide as the ruling party of Odisha with organizational secretary Pranab Prakash Das as the observer won 53 of the 56 zilla parishad seats.
Last month, the BJD put its weight behind Droupadi Murmu, who is also from Mayurbhanj, for the election to the top constitutional post in the country.
