Kusunpur all set to become Odisha’s first smart village

Kendrapada: With modern technologies for daily life and agriculture, Odisha is all set to get its first “smart village” in Kusunpur under Rajnagar block in Kendrapada district, home to 130 families with a population of 700.Aligning with the Prime Minister’s vision of “Viksit Bharat@2047, Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), ministry of science and technology, has launched a mission-mode project on Monday to develop Kusunpur into a smart village, marking a significant step towards promoting technology-driven, sustainable rural development. The initiative aims to bring practical solutions to rural communities through collaboration between CSIR research institutions, local administration and implementation partners.

The CSIR initiative like scientific solutions for household paddy storage will leverage indigenous technologies to create self-reliant, sustainable and resilient villages across India.The event was attended by Ramancharla Pradeep Kumar, director CSIR-Central Building Research Institute (CBRI), Roorkee; collector Raghuram R Iyer; and Ramanuj Narayan, Director, CSIR-IMMT, Bhubaneswar, among others.

The programme was organized with the support of the district administration and project implementation partners.An exhibition was organized to showcase the proposed technologies from various CSIR laboratories that are planned to be deployed in the village, along with the unveiling of a detailed project report for Kusunpur smart village.The CSIR-CBRI will strengthen village infrastructure such as climate-resilient schools, anganwadi buildings, community toilets and village planning.

The CSIR- CEERI will promote renewable energy, clean cooking fuel and safe drinking water solutions, said Narayan.The CSIR-NIIST will introduce solar sharing agrivoltaics and SERC will support the construction of a multipurpose cyclone shelter, said Iyer.The CSIR-CLRI will provide training in leather products, including products made from fish/chicken feet leather and Odisha’s ethnic textiles.