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Manohar Joshi sews up multi-point plan for Marathwada development

Maharashtra Chief Minister Manohar Joshi today announced that seven new industries of the total value of Rs 32.80 billion would come up in Marathwada and said that the entire developmental backlog of the backward region would be wiped out by March 2000.

Soon after a cabinet meeting in Aurangabad, Joshi said the seven industries would be set up by the major industrial houses like Bajaj and Videocon.

He said the state government would provide all infrastructure and other required facilities to these industrialists for setting up their new units.

He said the expenditure on the time bound progamme which was estimated in 1995 was to be of the order of Rs 19 billion but the amount has now been revised and is estimated to go upto Rs 32 billion. He said a sum of Rs 13.33 billion had already been spent till September this year on various works and schemes in the region.

Listing the progress of works, Joshi said that eight medium irrigation projects in Aurangabad and Latur districts, and 21 small irrigation projects in Aurangbad, Latur, Osmanabad, Nanded, Beed and Parbhani have so far been completed. The work of 281 km of the 1004 km national highway have been completed recently, he added.

He said 19 of the 26 drinking water supply schemes in the urban areas have also been completed in Aurangabad, Nanded, Latur, Osmanbad, Jalna, Beed and Parbhani district.

Joshi also announced new developmental projects and said the three hostels would be set up in the region to accommodate the school-going children of the labourers engaged in sugarcane cutting from the next academic year.

He said a new zone of the Maharashtra State Electricity Board would be set up in Aurangabad besides opening main offices of the MSEB at Parbhani, Jalna, Beed and Aurangabad.

Similarly a new MSEB zone will also be created at Kalyan in Thane district and main offices would be opened at tribal Gadchiroli in backward Vidarbha region and at Sindhudurg in the backward Konkan region. About forty-one new posts would be created for the two new MSEB zones while 42 for its six new offices.

Regarding the crop damages caused by excessive rains in the state especially in the Marathwada region, Joshi said that assistance totalling Rs 12.47 million has been disbursed to 21,500 farmers so far. Crops on 87,000 hectres of land were affected in the calamity.

The Godavari Irrigation Development Corporation set up by the state government for speedy implementation of the irrigation projects in backward Marathwada region will float a bond for Rs 3 billion in first week of December, Joshi disclosed.

Joshi said the cabinet has approved Rs 280 million in addition to the budgetary provision for the irrigation projects in the region.

UNI

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