DMF fund: Projects worth Rs 3,187 cr under implementation

BHUBANESWAR: The State Government has collected `4,647.85 crore from mining companies operating in different districts under District Mineral Foundation (DMF) Trusts for the benefit of people and areas affected by mining operations.

While the Government has sanctioned 7,764 projects worth `3,187 crore, mineral-rich Keonjhar district is reported to have received maximum number of projects. The district, which suffered maximum environmental degradation due to mining operations has been allotted `1,017 crore from District Mineral Foundation (DMF) fund for undertaking social infrastructure projects. The high priority areas included projects like housing, drinking water, health, sanitation, roads, welfare of women and children and skill development.

The other priority areas include physical infrastructure, irrigation, energy, watershed and forest development and any other measures for enhancing environmental quality in mining districts, Special Secretary Planning and Coordination DK Jena said. Chief Secretary Aditya Prasad Padhi reviewed the progress in implementation of the sanctioned projects at a high-level meeting here. Talking to collectors of mineral-bearing districts through video conference, Padhi asked them to lay thrust on drinking water supply and health services.

Emphasising on mega drinking water projects, Padhi advised the district collectors to ensure completion of the projects facing problems due to locational disadvantage of the water source and re-estimate the cost of such projects for drawing water from the next available source. Funds should be pulled in from all available sources to complete the projects without delay. Availability of safe drinking water is one of the major problems faced by the districts where mining operation has degraded the quality of water both, under the ground and flow.

The review of DMF funded project implementation came two days after president of Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee Niranjan Patnaik lambasted the State Government over poor utilisation of the funds in the mining- affected districts. Patnaik had alleged that 90 per cent of the fund remained unutilised. He claimed that the State Government has utilised only `389 crore out of `4,075 crore in the DMF fund. DMF funds are an extra-budgetary resources for the State Plan. Efforts are made to achieve convergence of State and district plans so that the activities taken up by DMF can supplement the development and welfare activities already being carried out.