Following is an excerpt from a report in New Indian Express.

The Ong dam project at Pujaripali in Padampur block of Bargarh district has received the much awaited environmental clearance from the Ministry of Environment and Forest(MoEF).

… Initially estimated to cost Rs 305 crore, the project was sanctioned by the Central Water Commission in September 2000.

The revised cost of the project will be nearly Rs 500 crore and this has been posed before the World Bank for funding under the Orissa Water Resources Improvement Project, official sources said.

The Water Resources Department has proposed to construct a reservoir on river Ong, a tributary of Mahanadi and the project envisages to irrigate about 30,000 hectares drought-prone areas of Bargarh and Balangir districts.

The submergence at full reservoir level is 5,100 hectares out of which, 167 hectares of neighbouring Chhattisgarh will be affected.

While 32 villages will affected by the project, 10 will be fully submerged.

As inter-state issues are involved, a public hearing was conducted in Chhattisgarh on September 11 and the willingness of people for the project has been communicated to the Centre.