Jajpur: Even though the site for the proposed underground oil depot at Dankari (Chandikhole) in the Dharmashala tehsil of Jajpur district has been caught in a controversy over years due to black stone quarrying, hopes about the project have been rekindled again after the Union Cabinet gave its nod for the project recently.
This project and another one in Karnataka were conceived by the Centre to create additional oil storage capacity of 6.5 million metric tonnes. The project was included in Budget 2017-18.
The Finance Minister had allocated Rs 3,800 crore in last year’s Budget for the project. The 3.7 million metric tonne oil reservoir is aimed at maintaining supply of petroleum products during emergencies.
Tbe Jajpur district administration had earlier apprised the state government of losing nearly Rs 1,414 crore once the reservoir project takes off. This was the reason the administration had not taken any concrete step to provide land for the oil reservoir project.
Several stone quarries are operating near Dankari. The stones are used for projects in Dhenkanal, Kendrapara, Jagatsinghpur, Cuttack, Bhadrak, Balasore and Mayurbhanj districts.
Mining activities including blasting with dynamite in the surrounding areas would be stopped once the oil project starts.
Meanwhile, apprehending closure of their units, the stone traders had been extracting black stone at will from Dankari.
In such a situation, the project was facing uncertainty, but the Cabinet approval has rekindled hopes about the project. The project may displace people in Dankari, Gobarsara, Nimuti, Nuabarada and Chadeidhara.
PNN