Odisha’s Tampara Lake To Get Rs 8 Crore Facelift

Berhampur: The Berhampur Development Authority (BeDA) has finalised additional projects worth Rs 8 crore for the facelift of Tampara lake in Ganjam district.

The projects at the tourist destination will be taken up under the Centre’s ‘Swadesh Darshan’ scheme, an official said.

“The authority has finalised the second phase projects worth around Rs 8 crore in its meeting held on Thursday. The work has been awarded to a contractor and we have asked the agency to complete it within 11 months,” BeDA vice chairman Chakravarti Singh Rathore said on Friday.

Under the project, a jetty, landscape, trekking, second food court, tourist reception centre and an entrance gate will be developed near the lake, he said.

The infrastructure of Tampara, about 25 km from Berhampur, was severely damaged due to Cyclone ‘Phailin’ which hit the state in October 2013.

Landscaping, widening of the road from National Highway-16 to the water body, food court, illumination and sitting facilities have been undertaken in the first phase, Rathore said.

The government has sanctioned Rs 33.43 crore under the scheme for tourism development of the water body two years ago.

The state government has planned to make Tampara a major tourist destination and a water-sports facility was introduced at the site last month by the tourism department under public-private partnership.