Bhubaneswar, June 9 (IANS): As many as 100 new bridges and 75 drinking water projects were inaugurated across Odisha on Thursday.

The 100 new bridges built under the Biju Setu Yojana will benefit 16 lakh people living in 345 panchayats while the 75 other projects will provide drinking water to 1.15 lakh people living in 75 panchayats in 21 of the 30 districts in the state, Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik said after inaugurating the projects at the state secretariat here.

"Construction of 481 bridges under the Biju Setu Yojana has been completed while the work on another 382 bridges is in progress. A decision has been taken to construct another 153 bridges," Patnaik said. 

Rural Development Minister Badrinarayan Patra said 10,418 drinking water projects have been made functional so far in Odisha. 

A total of 863 bridges will be constructed to improve connectivity in rural areas and Rs.780 crore already spent in this regard by the end of the last financial year. 

The minister said Rs.400 crore had been earmarked for the construction of 153 bridges this year. 

Patra said the Chief Minister has ordered spending of 30 percent of the funds allocated by the Finance Commission for drinking water projects in the state.