THEBUSINESSBYES BUREAU

BHUBANESWAR, SEPTEMBER 16, 2026

Odisha Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi on Wednesday inaugurated and laid the foundation stones for 50 development projects worth around Rs 960 crore in Sambalpur district, while unveiling a Doppler Weather Radar (DWR) station aimed at strengthening weather forecasting and disaster preparedness in western Odisha.

Of the 50 projects, 15 completed schemes worth Rs 133.47 crore were inaugurated, while foundation stones were laid for 35 new projects estimated at Rs 825.83 crore.

The projects span key sectors including roads and buildings, water resources, rural development, sports and health.

Among the major initiatives are projects worth Rs 585 crore in the roads and buildings sector, Rs 220.56 crore under mega lift irrigation, Rs 8.88 crore for minor irrigation, Rs 74.72 crore for sports infrastructure and Rs 60.50 crore for rural development works in Kuchinda.

The 24-hour operational Doppler radar, inaugurated during the event, can provide accurate weather data within a radius of 250 km and track weather systems up to 450 km, according to information shared at the programme.

The radar will provide weather-related information to 13 districts — Sambalpur, Bargarh, Jharsuguda, Sundargarh, Deogarh, Subarnapur, Balangir, Boudh, Nuapada, Angul, Kalahandi, Keonjhar and Dhenkanal — besides covering parts of neighbouring Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand.

The facility is expected to improve advance warnings for thunderstorms, lightning, hailstorms and heavy rainfall. It will also provide useful weather information to farmers, particularly those in the Mahanadi basin and Bargarh, one of Odisha's major agricultural regions.

The system will estimate rainfall every 10 minutes at a resolution of 150 metres, which is expected to help improve the management of inflows into the Hirakud dam. It will also support precautionary measures in sectors including power, industry, transport and grid operations.

Majhi said the Sambalpur radar had special regional significance and would bring a large part of Odisha under a stronger weather forecasting network. Similar Doppler Weather Radars would be established in Balasore, Bhubaneswar and Puri in the coming days, he said.

Addressing the gathering, the chief minister described Sambalpur as a centre of the art, culture and traditions of western Odisha and said the district had emerged as an important hub of the state government's development initiatives under the vision of a "Prosperous Odisha 2036".

Development works worth around Rs 1,910 crore had been undertaken in Sambalpur between January and September this year, Majhi said.

He recalled that projects worth Rs 948 crore and 50 electric buses were launched in Sambalpur in January this year. He also highlighted an allocation of Rs 238.14 crore for the Ainthapali Bus Terminal, including its 10-year maintenance.

Under AMRUT 2.0, a Rs 450-crore "Drink From Tap" project is being implemented to supply 100 million litres of treated water daily to 41 wards, with the objective of addressing drinking water shortages and reducing problems related to jaundice, he said.

Expansion works on the Burla and Hirakud ring roads and the Remed-Hirakud four-lane road are also progressing, Majhi said.

He also highlighted the Rs 1,521-crore four-lane bypass, expansion of VIMSAR at a cost of Rs 1,700 crore, a Rs 100-crore Aqua Park and the Rs 100-crore Samalei Phase-II project.

On industrial development, Majhi said a Rs 40,000-crore expansion of Hindalco was being undertaken at Lapanga, while JSW-JFE Steel was implementing a Rs 32,000-crore project at Rengali.

Work was also underway on Krushi Bhawan, a girls' hostel, modernisation of the Sambalpur Football Academy and the Hirakud Dam Master Plan, he said.

The state government has set a target of transforming Odisha into a USD 500-billion economy by 2036 and a USD 1.5-trillion economy by 2047, Majhi said.

Union Minister of State for Earth Sciences Jitendra Singh, in a virtual address, described the Sambalpur radar as an important milestone in strengthening India's weather forecasting system.

Another 40 Doppler Weather Radars would be added across the country in the coming days to further improve weather forecasting coverage, Singh said.

Revenue and Disaster Management Minister Suresh Pujari said the installation of the radar in western Odisha fulfilled a long-standing demand of the region and underlined the state government's efforts to strengthen early-warning and disaster preparedness systems under its "Zero Casualty" approach.

The radar would provide farmers, residents and disaster response agencies across western Odisha with advance information on lightning, heavy rainfall and storms, he said.

The event was attended by Rajya Sabha MP Manmohan Samal, MLA Jayanarayan Mishra, India Meteorological Department Director General Mrutyunjay Mohapatra, Special Relief Commissioner Rajesh Prabhakar Patil, Northern Range DIG Charan Singh Meena, Sambalpur Collector Siddheshwar Baliram Bondar and other senior officials and members of the public.