Naveen Patnaik writes to Hemant Soren for early completion of Ichha Dam, other projects

Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Saturday wrote to his Jharkhand counterpart Hemant Soren urging him to accelerate completion of Ichha Dam and flood moderation in Chandil Dam of Subarnarekha Multipurpose project.

Patnaik asked for Soren's cooperation in completing Ichha Dam early for benefit of farmers of both the states and storage of water up to full reservoir level in Chandil Dam in monsoon season for mitigation of flood in Odisha.

"I am happy to know that the Government of Jharkhand has taken up Ichha dam construction work recently. The Government of Odisha will extend all cooperation for Ichha Darn construction and reimburse Odisha's share cost of the dam in time," Odisha CM assured in his letter.

He further wrote that "sum of Rs 1,026.91 crore has been paid to Jharkhand for the above works till date against the estimated share cost of Odisha of Rs 1,208 crore (2016 Price level). Further, I am told that 36 villages of Odisha are affected under Ichha Dam reservoir submergence area at FRL 225m."

"Accordingly, land acquisition and R&R work in Odisha portion have been taken up. As of now, 5,196 acres of land (98%) out of 5283 acres has already been acquired. Rehabilitation assistance has been paid to 1268 Project Affected Persons (PAPs) out of total identified 1369 PAPs, which is about 93%." he mentioned in the letter.

( With inputs from ANI )