Rain cancel PM's visit to KBK area in Orissa

Bhubaneswar, Aug 29: A well marked low pressure over Orissa coast forced Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to cancel his visit to the KBK areas scheduled for today.

Dr Singh arrived here yesterday on a two-day visit to the state, for the first since he assumed power, and dedicated the 3000 MW Talcher Super Thermal Power Station at Kaniha to the nation.

The Prime Minister was stranded at the Biju Patnaik airport for more than an hour soon after his arrival from Delhi due to inclement weather and heavy rains that lashed the coastal orissa following low pressure area over North Bay of Bengal.

He had to cancel his visit to Kaniha in Talcher Thermal Power Station and inaugurated it through video conferencing.

The Prime Minister was scheduled to visit Bolangir this morning where he was to inspect some centrally sponsored programmes being implemented in the district and then to Sunabeda to review the implementation of KBK programmes out come under the Revised Long Term Action Plan (RLTAP).

But incessant rains since yesterday in most parts of the state, including the KBK areas, played a spoilsport forcing him to return to Delhi this noon.

UNI