Bhubaneswar, Sep 21 (PTI) The Odisha government on Tuesday approved projects worth over Rs 600 crore for developmental work in various sectors in districts affected by mining activities.

Chief Secretary Suresh Chandra Mohapatra gave the nod to the projects in a board of directors' meeting of the Odisha Mineral Bearing Areas Development Corporation (OMBADC), an official release said.

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Proposals worth Rs 640.65 crore were approved for development of secondary schools, environmental monitoring and sporting activities in urban local bodies of the districts, it said.

OMBADC CEO Uma Nanduri said 889 secondary schools in Angul, Dhenkanal, Deogarh, Jajpur, Jharsuguda, Mayurbhanj and Sundargarh districts were included under the project at an estimated amount of Rs 533.4 crore.

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The proposal for development of multipurpose indoor stadiums, projected to cost Rs 104 crore, for 11 civic bodies in the mining-affected districts were also sanctioned in the meeting, the release said.

The facilities will nurture and promote sporting talents, it said.

Another project worth Rs 3.1 crore was sanctioned for the application of information and communication technology (ICT) and data science for development of the environmental information system in the mining areas of Odisha.

It envisages creation of a comprehensive database of periodic environmental information collected from mines through different statutory returns, clearances and compliances.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)