Sambalpur: 14th Finance Commission sanctioned Rs 2 crore proposal for the Construction of Sambalpur Eco Park named after Chandrashekhar Behera

Sambalpur: The long-time dream of the senior citizens of Sambalpur Kuluthakani is about to come true. With 15 years of continuous effort and labor, the construction of the Eco Park has started in the artificial forest they have created on 9 acres of land on the banks of Harad River. After the publication of news about the creation of artificial forest in Sambalpur city with the help of senior citizens of Kuluthakani, it attracted the attention of the administration. District Collector Ananya Das visited the artificial forest and held talks with its creator, the Kuluthkani Senior Citizens Committee. This greatly impressed the District Collector. The Kuluthkani Citizens’ Committee repeatedly requested the elected representatives for the development of this forest, but when they were disappointed, the district extended a hand of support to them. Defending the request of the Kuluthakani Citizens Committee, Collector proposed to the state government to develop this artificial forest as an eco park. The state government approved the proposal of Collector and sanctioned Rs 2 crore from the 14th Finance Commission. The construction of Sambalpur’s first Eco Park has started. Sambalpur Metropolitan Corporation has been entrusted with its construction. Maruti Construction has been awarded the contract for the construction of Eco Park. In the first phase, a wall is being built in front of the forest. After this, the ghat will be beautified by stone petting on the side of Harad river. Shyam Kumar Oram, representative of the construction company, said that the Eco Park will have an attractive entrance gate, ticket counter, children’s hut, children’s swimming pool, retirement entertainment center for senior citizens, hanging poles on the Harad river, walkways and gardens for morning and evening visits.

In this park, separate arrangements will be made for people of all age groups and the construction work will be completed in 1 year, Sambalpur Metropolitan Corporation Assistant Engineer Shubhendu Kumar Mishra has informed. On Tuesday, Assistant Engineer Shri Mishra and Executive Engineer Ajay Kumar Behera visited the construction site and supervised the work. However, as there is a plan to cut down many valuable trees of the artificial forest for the construction of the park, the citizens’ committee has raised the issue. However, as few trees as possible will be cut down and the district administration has assured that the trees planted in Park will be planted here to compensate for the damage. As next year marks the 150th birth anniversary of Chandrashekhar Behera, the great son of Sambalpur soil, close associate of Mahatma Gandhi, the first lawyer and first mayor of Sambalpur, Kartikeshar Meher, President of Kuluthkani Citizens Committee, Kashinath Pradhan, Udit Chandra Patjoshi, Dharnadhar Pradhan, Prabhakar Mahapatra and Manoj Kumar Bhuiyan proposed the district administration to name this garden as ‘Chandrashekhar Behera Eco Park’ in his memory.