Exactly eight years after the Ministry of Environment and Forest accorded stage-I forest clearance to Ong Irrigarion Project, the Orissa government has decided to go ahead with the major project to be implemented at an estimated cost of Rs 305 crore, official sources said. “Notification for land acquisition for the Ong project has already been made. The state government has also made budgetary allocation for the purpose,” Water Resources Secretary, Mr Suresh Chandra Mohapatra, told reporters after holding a discussion with the local MLA and state's Scheduled Tribe and Scheduled Caste Minister, Mr Bijay Ranjan Singh Bariha. Stating that the project would irrigate about 30,000 hectares of land in Bargarh district, Mr Mohapatra said that public hearing for the purpose was conducted both in Orissa and neighbouring Chhatishgarh state.

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