Bhubaneswar: The Odisha chief minister, Naveen Patnaik, Friday inaugurated a multipurpose recreational harbour on Chilika Lake at Satapada. The habour constructed with Rs 19 core would berth 200 boats at a time. The harbour comprises of one main jetty and approach jetty each and 20 finger jetties.

Inaugurating the multipurpose jetty through video conferencing, the chief minister said the harbour would play a key role in promotion of tourism in Chilika Lake and Satapada and create opportunity for jobs for lakhs of people. He said that the state government is going to start Sahid Baji Rout Navigation Safety Yojana to provide security to the passenger tourists. According to him, the harbour  would also improve the communication network in the area.

The state transport minister, Nrusingha Sahoo, and Rajya Sabha BJD MP Anubhav Mohanty were present at Satpada while chief secretary AP Padhi and development commissioner R Balakrishnan were present here at conference room in the state secretariat.