BHUBANESWAR, APRIL 27: Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Wednesday said the drinking water crisis in the State has attained chronic proportions.Talking to newsmen at Naveen Nivas here, he said he took up the matter at the all-party meeting on drought convened in the Parliament House on Tuesday by Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee. Patnaik said the southern and western parts of the State are experiencing severe water scarcity which is acute in Berhampur and Titlagarh towns.He demanded that arrangements for special train to carry water to these towns should be urgently made. He sought financial assistance from the Centre for digging 4,000 tubewells in areas experiencing shortage of drinking water and Rs 2 crore for supply of water by tankers. The Chief Minister requested assistance of the Central Groundwater Board in digging of tube wells since sufficient number of rotary rigs are not available.The Chief Minister who returned from New Delhi on Wednesday said the Prime Minister has agreed to come to Paradip for laying the foundation stone for the oil refinery project of Indian Oil after the Parliament session. One of the biggest investments of the Centre in the State, the project cost will be more than Rs 1,600 crore, he added.Patnaik said the Prime Minister had also agreed to sanction 2 lakh more Indira Awas Yojana (IAY) houses for the cyclone-affected areas which will cost Rs 440 crore. He met Communication Minister Ramvilas Paswan during his Delhi visit. Paswan assured the Chief Minister of all possible help in the communication sector in the light of devastating super cyclone in the State. Patnaik said the minister promised to extend wireless in local loop (WILL) which serves as a backup when terrestrial communication links get disrupted due to a natural calamity. This will be available to many villages which are not linked by telecommunication lines, he added.Paswan also agreed to provide integrated digital service in the old 13 district headquarters on priority basis. He agreed with the Chief Minister's proposal to provide necessary infrastructure to make Bhubaneswar the most modern information technology centre by upgrading internet facility and provide internet server at Bhubaneswar.The Chief Minister said Minister of State for Small Scale Industries Vasundhara Raje Scindia has also reiterated her commitment for a package of Rs 300 crore to the State through the Orissa Small Industries Corporation (OSIC) and IPICOL. He said the State government will provide guarantee for the purpose.Patnaik said he impressed upon Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee to make additional allocation to the Daitari-Banspani, Khurda-Bolangir, Paradip-Haridaspur and Angul-Sukinda railway line projects. She agreed to increase the frequency of Rajdhani Express services to the State. Besides, the Railway Ministry has also decided to have a halt of Nizamuddin-Bhubaneswar express and Ahmedabad-Puri express at Talcher from May 9.The Chief Minister attended the MPLADS committee meeting held under the chairmanship of Deputy Chairperson of Rajya Sabha Najma Heftullah. The committee sanctioned 240 shelter-cum-school buildings in the cyclone-affected areas at the unit cost of Rs 10 lakh each. Rajya Sabha has selected the HUDCO to be the executive agency for this construction.
