Senior BJP MLA Dilip Ray, in the assembly, asked Hon’ble Minister for Housing and Urban development about the current status of the barrage proposed to have been built over River Koel for which Hon’ble Chief Minister laid foundation stone on 09.07.2013.Construction of the barrage is crucial for the long run solution of water scarcity in and around Rourkela. He also raised the matter in different forums and discussed with competent authorities to fast- track the project. Although he asked the Minister to objectively apprise me about the scheduled time-frame within which the project is planned to be completed and the steps taken to accelerate the construction, the minister expressed his inability to answer the question citing lack of fact. When a project is concerned with a basic issue like water supply, and when the Chief Minister has laid the foundation for the project-it is only surprising that the minister is not seized of the matter and his department has no data on the progress of the same.
Further, he requested the government not to take the matter nonchalantly and expedite the construction of the barrage as soon as possible to relieve the people of Rourkela of water scarcity.