Union Home Minister Amit Shah laid the foundation stone for Utkal Upvan, an eco park established by Mahanadi Coalfields Limited (MCL) as a tourist attraction in Odisha’s Jharsuguda district at a cost of Rs 14 crore.
The foundation stone was laid remotely via a video conference from New Delhi, in the presence of Coal Minister Pralhad Joshi and Coal Secretary Anil Kumar Jain, MCL said in a statement.
Besides ‘Utkal Upvan,’ which has been built to turn an excavated coal mine into an eco-park, MCL celebrates Vanmohotsav-2020 by conducting a special plantation drive in all its project areas and offices in Angul, Sambalpur, Jharsuguda and Sundargarh districts.
MCL CMD B N Shukla participated in a video conference to launch ‘Vriksharopan Abhiyan,’ a plantation drive by Shah, and a foundation stone laying ceremony with senior officers.
Over 17,000 seedlings were planted, while more than 37,000 seedlings were distributed free-of-cost for planting in and around coalfield areas during this unique drive to plant fruit-bearing trees.
MCL has set a target for planting 1,22 lakh trees in 2020-21. Over the years , the company has gradually planted about six million trees in Odisha, according to the report.
MCL, a subsidiary of Coal India Limited, has taken the initiative to establish ‘Utkal Upvan’ in the decoaled portion of the Lilari open casting mine, located 30 minutes drive from Veer Surendra Sai Airport, Jharsuguda.
The eco park will have bicycle and walking tracks, children’s playground, toy train, mine museum, adventure sports such as boating, sailing, hiking, archery, botanical garden, dining rink, auditorium and luxury cottages.
This sustainable eco-park, which is being built near the nine-hole golf course and the Koilighughar waterfall, will also provide locals with tourism-driven self-employment opportunities.
