Bhubaneswar/Sambalpur: Odisha Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi on Wednesday inaugurated a ‘Make in India’ Doppler Weather Radar (DWR) in Sambalpur, aimed at strengthening weather forecasting and disaster preparedness across western Odisha, and launched development projects worth around Rs 960 crore.
The radar, the third such facility in Odisha after Paradip and Gopalpur, will operate round-the-clock and provide weather data within a 250-km radius, with forecasting of weather movements up to 450 km, officials said.
Addressing a function at Gangadhar Meher University in Sambalpur, Majhi said the radar would benefit 13 districts, including Sambalpur, Baragada, Jharsuguda, Sundaragada, Debagada, Subarnapur, Balangir, Boudh, Nuapada, Anugola, Kalahandi, Kendujhar and Dhenkanal, besides parts of neighbouring Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand.
The system will estimate rainfall every 10 minutes at a resolution of 150 metres and provide advance information on thunderstorms, lightning, hailstorms and heavy rain. It will also help strengthen inflow management at the Hirakud reservoir and enable precautionary measures in sectors such as power, industry, transport and grid operations.
Majhi said the state government was working towards a technology-driven, proactive disaster management system and announced that Doppler radars would also be installed in Baleshwar, Bhubaneswar and Puri.
The chief minister also inaugurated 15 completed projects worth Rs 133.47 crore and laid foundation stones for 35 new projects estimated at Rs 825.83 crore. The projects span health, rural development, sports, roads and buildings and water resources, including a Rs 220.56-crore mega lift irrigation project.
He said development works worth nearly Rs 1,910 crore had been undertaken in Sambalpur during the current year till September. Projects underway include the Rs 1,521-crore four-lane bypass, Rs 1,700-crore expansion of VIMSAR, Rs 100-crore Aqua Park and Rs 100-crore Samalei Phase-II.
The government has also sanctioned Rs 238.14 crore for the Ainthapali Bus Terminal and its 10-year maintenance, while a Rs 450-crore ‘Drink from Tap’ project under AMRUT 2.0 is aimed at supplying 100 million litres of treated water daily to 41 wards of Sambalpur, he said.
Majhi said industrial projects, including Hindalco’s Rs 40,000-crore expansion at Lapanga and the Rs 32,000-crore JSW-JFE Steel project at Rengali, were under implementation.
Union Minister of State for Earth Sciences Jitendra Singh, who addressed the gathering virtually, said another 40 Doppler radars would be added across the country in the coming days.
Revenue and Disaster Management Minister Suresh Pujari said the Sambalpur radar fulfilled a long-standing demand of western Odisha and would strengthen the state’s zero-casualty approach to disaster management.
The event was attended by Rajya Sabha MP Manmohan Samal, MLA Jay Narayan Mishra, IMD Director General Mrutyunjay Mohapatra, Special Relief Commissioner Rajesh Prabhakar Patil and other senior officials.
