India 2018

States and Union Territories 639
allotted significant amount of resources for this sector. A road infrastructure
development action plan was prepared with an investment of ` 1,411 crores
under the Odisha State Road Project. Civil works have been started in
Bhawanipatna-Khariar road corridor, Anandpur-Bhadrak-Chandbali road
corridor, Berhampur-Taptapani road corridor and Jagatpur-Chandbali road
corridor. The thrust of the government is to provide proper road connectivity,
infrastructure, safe drinking water and sanitation facility to holistically develop
the rural areas. All weather connectivity has been provided to habitations
through the construction of 481 bridges.
Railways: Odisha is well connected with the national rail network. It has rail
lines of 2339 km including 91 km. narrow gauge. The Odisha railway network
is a part of the East Coast Railways, which is the largest carrier of commercial
load in both freight as well as passenger traffic in the country.
Aviation: The expansion and modernization of Bhubaneswar airport is in
progress. Direct link is available from Bhubaneswar to places like Delhi,
Kolkata, Mumbai, Bengaluru and Hyderabad. There are 13 airstrips and 16
helipads at different places in the state.
Ports: Government is taking steps to develop modern all weather deep sea
ports at the potential port sites to give impetus to maritime trade and port
based industries. Dhamra Port, which has been developed in PPP mode has
started its commercial operation during this year.
Tourism : A new tourism policy is being formulated by the government aiming
at strengthening the tourism prospects of Odisha, increasing private sector
participation, augmenting tourism infrastructure and improving marketing
and promotion of tourism. To further enhance the security of the tourists,
government has created a separate wing called tourist police and deployed
them at Sea Beach at Puri, Konark and Gopalpur. Tourist police cells have also
been created in Golden Triangle and Diamond Triangle.
Considering the tourism potential of Odisha, Government has identified
tourism as one of the focused areas of development. 320 places have so far
been identified as tourist centres. Steps have been taken to make Odisha a
most preferred tourist destination and placing it prominently on the national
and international tourist map.
O. W.: http://www.odisha.gov.in
Government
Governor : Dr. S.C. Jamir Chief Secretary : Shri Aditya Prasad Padhi
Chief Minister : Shri Naveen Patnaik Jurisdiction of : State of Odisha
High Court
Punjab
Area : 50,362 sq km Population : 2,77,43,338
Capital : Chandigarh Principal Language : Punjabi