Google Map Link: https://www.google.com/maps/@20.2471662,85.7396776,3429m/data=!3m1!1e3
In Design Studio Ahmedabad has developed a master plan for the above area. See details at https://www.inidesignstudio.info/dev/portfolio/town-planning-scheme-tps-02-bhubaneswar/
[For Pinkbook extracts see here.]
The budget speech is at http://www.indianrailways.gov.in/railwayboard/uploads/directorate/finance_budget/Budget_2013-14/English_Speech_2013-14.pdf .
Following are Odisha specific excerpts from the budget speech.
Rail-Based Industries
42. To meet the increasing demand, reduce dependence on imports and to generate employment opportunities, following new manufacturing/maintenance facilities are proposed to be set up:-
vii. a new wagon maintenance workshop in Kalahandi district, Odisha;
43. As regards setting up of new coach factories at Palakkad and Kolar, and a wagon factory in Ganjam district of Odisha, we are in consultation with respective state governments. I am hopeful of early commencement of work.
Skill Development
50. With a view to contributing to the national skill development programme of the Government, Ministry of Railways would impart skills to the youth in railway related trades in 25 locations spread across the length and breadth of the country. These locations are: Agartala, Alwar, Ankleshwar, Chandigarh, Dehradun, Dimapur, Imphal, Jagdalpur, Jais, Katihar, Kazipet, Kollam, Koraput, Lumding, Mangalore, Murshidabad, Nagpur, Naharlagun, Pathankot, Ranchi, Ratlam, Shimla, Sirsa, Srinagar and Tiruchchirappalli.
Infrastructure Expansion
79. In 2010-11 and 2011-12, Railways completed 709 km and 727 km respectively of new lines. However, during 2012-13, emphasis was laid on capacity enhancement works like doubling, traffic facilities etc. The target of 700 km of new lines in the current year had to be scaled down to 470 km due to inadequate resources. The sections which have either been completed or are planned to be completed during 2012-13 are listed at Annexure 1.
New Lines to be completed in 2012-13
23 Khurda Road-Khurda Town
24 Lanjigarh Rd.-Junagarh (balance portion)
81. I am happy to report that that the target of 700 km of doubling will be marginally exceeded during 2012-13. Sections which have either been completed or are scheduled for completion during 2012-13 are listed at Annexure 3.
Doubling projects to be completed in 2012-13
21 Garhmadopur-Jenapur
28 Jenapur-Jakhapura
29 Jharsuguda-Rengali (part)
Targets for 2013-14
85. A target to complete 500 km of new lines has been set for 2013-14.
A list of sections proposed to be completed during the year is given in Annexure 5.
New Line projects to be completed in 2013-14
20. Khurda Town-Sunakhela
87. The target for Doubling has been increased to 750 km for 2013-14. The sections proposed to be completed in 2013-14 are given in Annexure 7.
Sections proposed to be doubled in 2013-14
3 Angul-Kerjang
11 Bhubneshwar-Barang
12 Bimalgarh-Patasahi
14 Brindamal-Lapang
21 Chilkidra-Harichandanpur
23 Cuttak-Barang
24 Delang-Sakhigopal
27 Goaldhi-Keonjhar
44 Naraj-Barang
New Projects
90. I propose to take up following new projects in 2013-14:
Electrification
5. Singapur Road-Damanjodi
91. I have been receiving representations from Hon’ble Members, State Governments and other public representatives in large numbers for construction of new lines, gauge conversion, doubling, and electrification and also for surveys. I have been pondering over them for the last one month. They are all genuine and reflect the growing need and demand of the most preferred mode of transport of the people in the country. I would sincerely wish to take up all those projects but am severely constrained for the reasons submitted earlier. Given this conspectus, despite the resource crunch, I propose to take up 22 projects of new lines and one gauge conversion project on socio-economic consideration and one doubling project after obtaining necessary approvals/clearances. These are:
New Lines
19. Raipur-Jharsuguda
Surveys
93. I propose to undertake following surveys during 2013-14:
New Lines
11. Bangriposi-Gorumahishani (Updating)
23. Jashipur – Jajpur Road
36. Nirakarpur and Tapanga new bye-pass line
49. Sikarapai-Jagsalpatri-Junagarh
56. Titlagarh- Junagarh
New Train Services
95. A detailed exercise has been carried out to assess availability of
track capacity, terminal facilities and maintenance infrastructure. Within
the available resources, it has been possible to provide the following
new train services:
Express trains
10. Bhubaneswar – Hazrat Nizamuddin Express (Weekly) Via Sambalpur
26. Howrah – Chennai AC Express (Bi-weekly) Via Bhadrak, Duvvada, Gudur
38. Kamakhya (Guwahati) – Bangalore AC Express (Weekly )
58. Puri – Sai Nagar Shirdi Express (Weekly) Via Sambalpur, Titlagarh, Raipur, Nagpur, Bhusawal
59. Puri –Ajmer Express (Weekly) Via Abu-Road
63. Tirupati – Bhubaneswar Express (Weekly) Via Visakhapatnam
65. Visakhapatnam – Jodhpur Express (Weekly) Via Titlagarh, Raipur
Extension of Trains
5. 18437/18438 Bhubaneswar – Bhawanipatna Express to Junagarh
16. 12507/12508 Guwahati-Ernakulam Express to Thiruvananthapuram
17. 17005/17006 Hyderabad-Darbhanga Express to Raxaul after gauge conversion
25. 12145/12146 Lokmanya Tilak (T)-Bhubaneswar Express to Puri
33. 18419/18420 Puri-Darbhanga Express to Jaynagar
Increase in frequency
18. 18309/18310 Sambalpur-Hazoor Saheb Nanded Express 2 to 3 day
Update: New announcements in the Loka Sabha during budget discussion
Some mentions relevant to Odisha are:
New Trains:
2. Hatia (Ranchi) – Yesvantpur Express (Weekly)
7. Tata-Visakhapatnam Express (Weekly)
Frequency increases:
5. Puri –Ajmer Express (Weekly) Via Abu-Road announced in Railway Budget 2013-14 will now be a bi-weekly train.
Update: SAIL RSP has now agreed to consider upgrading IGH (Ispat general Hospital) to a medical college. All that was needed was the CM asking for it. The Odia papers suggest that he already agreed. If this works out then the 4 public sectors MCL, NTPC, NALCO and SAIL will each be making medical colleges at Talcher, Sundergarh, Koraput and Rourkela respectively.
If the IGH upgradation happens it will be the second medical college in Rourkela. (Note that HiTech medical college is now operational in Rourkela and has taken the first batch of MBBS students.) When the NTPC medical college is made in Sundergarh, the medical college count in that district will then go to 3.
Next Odisha government must push the other companies that heavily use Odisha minerals to contribute at the similar level. The TATAs who have mining in Odisha for more than 100 years should be told to establish medical colleges in Joda-Barbil and Sukinda-Kalinganagar and do much more.
Following are some of the projects that are in progress as collected from various media reports.
Following is an excerpt from an article by Tavleen Singh in Indian Express.
So a junior minister, Jairam Ramesh, was allowed to begin the process of taking the Indian economy down by stopping huge infrastructure projects after investments worth thousands of crore rupees had already been made. Why did the Prime Minister not stop the Ministry of Environment from being turned into a secret instrument for a new licence raj?
Unfortunately, Odisha bore the biggest burnt of Jairam Ramesh’s folly when he stopped Vedanta University.
The Congress party in India is a party where the Gandhi family (especially, Sonia and Rahul) have too much power without much responsibility and that has been the major reason the UPA 2 government has floundered in many ways. Commenting on one such aspect, the indecisiveness of UPA2, Shekhar Gupta wrote: "The inherently indecisive style of this establishment is compounded by the fact that its administrative and political authority is so scattered — so scattered, in fact, that the buck has to make a dozen halts en route, like a DTC bus, before it finally stops with somebody."
Alternatively, the BJP refuses to atone and clean up its tainted image and is yet to apologize for the Gujarat events in 2002 (unlike Congress which has apologized for the 1984 Sikh massacre in Delhi) and continues to stand behind Narendra Modi.
Fortunately, people in Odisha don’t like either and both Congress and BJP are down and out in Odisha.
As a result BJD and Naveen Patnaik have been governing Odisha for the last 12 years and in some sense going stronger. However, there have been many major shortcomings.
The first two shortcomings can be addressed if BJD splits to two "strong" regional parties that can relegate the national parties of Congress and BJP to 3rd and 4th position in the state.
That way at any time one of the regional parties can team up with the coalition that runs the government at the center and make the case for Odisha from within the central govt. This would be better than what happened in the last 8 years where there has been zero (initial days of UPA 1) or only one minister in the central government from Odisha, and ZERO representation from Odisha in the central cabinet.
Tamil Nadu with DMK and AIDMK as the leading regional parties is a good example of regional parties having strong influence in the center. One or the other has been an ally of the center for a long time.
UP with SP and BSP as number 1 and 2 is somewhat similar though neither are part of the central government. But they extend support to the central government. Because of that SP now has strong influence on the government. Moreover, Ajit Singh from another small party is in the cabinet as the minister for Civil Aviation.
If one considers the CPI(M) in West Bengal to be a regional party (which it almost is) then West Bengal with TMC and CPI(M) relegate Congress and BJP out of the top 2. They have benefited by this approach as CPIM from West Bengal had a huge say in UPA1 (until the end) and TMC has 5-6 ministers in the current central government.
In Maharashtra the regional parties of NCP and Shiv Sena partner with Congress and BJP and thus lookout for Maharashtra’s interest.
The third shortcoming can also be addressed by the split in that the parties resulting from the split will provide opportunity for new emerging leaders and intellectuals to be part of these parties and force the BJD-Naveen to decentralize power.
In conclusion, it may be good for Odisha if BJD splits to two "strong" regional parties that can relegate the national parties of Congress and BJP to 3rd and 4th position in the state.
Following are excerpts from an excellent article by Bibhuti Barik in Telegraph.
The proposed corridor will include nine places linked to Jagannath Dham and the rich tradition of Odia art, craft, architecture and rural lifestyle.
… “We want to touch a part of Odisha’s essence through this heritage corridor. It will start from places in the neighbourhood of the capital, such as Sisupalgarh, Gangotri Nagar, Dhauli, Pipili, Danda Mukundapur, Dasia Bauri Peetha, Sakhigopal, Danda Sahi and Raghurajpur. While the first two places can be tagged together as they are near the outskirts of Bhubaneswar, Danda Mukundapur, Dasia Bauri Peetha, Sakhigopal and Danda Sahi need special emphasis so that the travellers can get to know about them and their historical links,” said a senior official of the state tourism and culture department.
The department’s principal secretary Ashok Tripathy said: “… we are going to put an extra emphasis on the rural sector. The heritage corridor will be the first effort towards the initiative. We are going to give the travellers a feel of not only the rural Odisha, but also the essence of our cultural traditions attached to it, in the form of crafts, dance forms, saga of Lord Jagannath and the folklores linked to the holy city and its temples.”
While Sisupalgarh is one of the unique fort settlements in the world and dates back to the Mauryan-era, Gangotri Nagar is fast becoming a small but beautiful settlement of national award winning artists in patta chitra and stone carving.
But after visiting the two places, one can move up to Dhauli where apart from the famous peace pagoda a sculpture garden is already in the pipeline.
While Pipili represents a nice cooperation between Muslims and Hindus with its appliqué work, the state culture and tourism department is also planning a project to attract tourists near the diversion of NH-203 which is under renovation.
… Danda Mukundapur is famous for poet Bhakta Salbeg, a Muslim follower in love with Lord Jagannath. There is a place where Bhakta Dasia, a devotee of Lord Jagannath from the weaver community was born and proved that through love and devotion one can conquer the Lord. It is said that the image of the Trinity once appeared in a sacred pond near Dasia’s house when some priests came calling to realise Dasia’s tale. The lush green surroundings, including the paddy fields, coconut and banana plantations recreate another Kerala inside Odisha.
Sakhigopal also has the sacred Sakhigopinath temple which, according to legend, is a shrine describing the Lord’s love for his follower. Sakhigopal is the major work place of the famous five friends or Panchasakha — Gopabandhu, Acharya Harihara, Nilakantha, Krupasindhu and Godabarish.
The last two places — Danda Sahi and Raghurajpur — are famous for patta chitra. However, while the latter became famous with proper patronage and promotion, Danda Sahi is yet to get prominence that it deserves. Raghurajpur has already become a model village with traditional studios of the artists, Gotipua dance recitals, cultural exchanges between the foreign tourists or artists and local talents.
She has been consistently good taking on tougher and tougher challenges every week. Pointers to all her performances are at http://www.orissalinks.com/orissagrowth/archives/5646. Please watch and judge for yourselves.
Update: Her performance in the finale starts from 5 minutes http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xqa82w_dance-india-dance-3-21st-april-2012-part-5_shortfilms.
Following is from a report in Economic Times.
The government has identified site for setting up Rs 18,000-crore imported coal-based ultra mega power project in Orissa, power secretary Uma Shankar said.
The 4,000-mw plant, one of the three such proposed projects in the state, will be located at Bhadrak. A team of Central Electricity Authority will on April 21 visit the state for finalising location of the third ultra mega power project that would be run on imported coal, he said.
Orissa’s first ultra mega power project at Bedabahal is under bidding.
An important reason behind Bhadrak being the location must be the Dhamara port and its competitive pricing. This is a glimpse of the impact of having new ports. Odisha must push the other new ports that are in various stages of planning. As we have discussed before, the ports will serve the traffic from/to the countries in the east.
A brief description of the program is given here and here. Following are some excerpts.
About PMRDF The Ministry of Home Affairs has identiï¬ed 60 districts of the country as Left Wing Extremism (LWE) districts. The Government of India has launched a special programme in these districts called Integrated Action Plan (IAP). On 13th of September, Union Minister of Rural Development Mr. Jairam Ramesh announced a scheme of PM’s Rural Development Fellows for deploying young professionals in each of the IAP districts to assist the District Collector. Mission PMRDFs will basically function as development facilitators, they will assist the Collector and his/her colleagues in each of the IAP districts and provide them with the necessary analysis of situations and how they should be handled. The fellows would actively pursue a district programming approach following three key strategies given below:
• Strengthen the district resource base for programming by finding ways of resourcing all the planned activities and rational budgeting.
• Establish or strengthen systems by exploring alternative ways of delivering services to reach the most deprived communities.
• Trigger processes which would support the changes that have been envisioned in this approach (e.g. village planning).
This would be complemented by a set of supportive actions such as building the capacity of district and block officials; triggering district-wide social mobilization processes particularly among the youth; achieve a ground swell of support and build strong relationships with the Panchayats.
The number of districts is now 78 instead of 60. Each of these districts will have two fellows. 18 of those districts are in Odisha. They are listed below. We welcome the 36 fellows that will be working in those districts in Odisha and will be happy to help them in any way possible.
This is a big reduction. The data is from http://planningcommission.nic.in/news/press_pov1903.pdf. (Thanks to Umashankar Das for the pointer.)
Some of the interesting aspects of the above data are as follows:
I did a bit of research to figure out how to get a voter id in Odisha for someone who is from a rural area but now living in my parents place. This is what I found.
After elections are announced traveling voting registration camps are organized in various places and one can go there to do a new voter registration or update their voter registration data.
However, the voter registration ID (or some acceptable ID) may be needed for many other things (such as to open a bank account) and one may not have the luxury to wait till the next election. In that case, one may follow the procedure given below.
The above pointers have more details.
The following is extracted from the budget speech and the Pinkbook. This is an initial cut-n-paste. Will do a more extensive posting on this in the weekend.
From the budget speech:
List of 41 new lines proposed to be completed in 2011-12:-
…
12. Lanjigarh Road-Junagarh (Part)
13. Khurda Road – Begunia (Part)
…
List of new line projects targeted for completion in 2012-13
…
16. Begunia-Nayagarh
17. Talcher-Sunakhani
…
List of 55 Doubling Works for completion during 2011-12:-
…
26. Dumetra-Champajharan
27. Banspani-Jaroli
…
List of 67 Doubling Works for completion during 2012-13:-
…
16. Delang-Sakhigopal
18. Angul-Kerejang
56. Jenapur-Jakhapura
66. Cuttack-Barang
67. Rajatgarh-Barang
…
List of 23 new Doubling Projects sanctioned in 2012-13:-
…
19. Manoharpur – Bandamuda 3rd Line
22. Bhadrak – Nergundi 3rd Line
…
List of 21 new Surveys for Doubling Projects sanctioned in 2012-13:-
…
12. 3rd line between Kharagpur and Bhadrak
…
List of 10 new Railway Electrification Projects sanctioned in 2012-13:
…
2. Titlagarh–Sambhalpur-Jharsuguda and Angul-Sambalpur
From the pink book:
Following are some of the trains mentioned in this budget that will connect Odisha. The ones in red are of special interest. My comments are in blue.
New Trains:
2. Secunderabad-Shalimar AC Express (Weekly) via Vijayawada [** Introduced May 28 2013 **]
18. Barbil-Chakradharpur Intercity Express (Daily) via Dongoaposi, Jhinkpani [I expect this to be extended to Rourkela or even Sambalpur.] [** Introduced July 15 2012 **]
29. Bikaner-Puri Express (Weekly) via Jaipur,Kota,Katni Murwara, Jharsuguda, Sambalpur [This will be the first connection between Bhubaneswar/Puri and Bikaner and second between Bhubanswar/Puri and Jaipur.][** Introduced April 18 2013 **]
30. Secunderabad-Darbhanga Express (Bi-weekly) via Ballarshah, Jharsuguda, Rourkela, Ranchi, Jhajha [This will increase the connectivity between JSG/ROU and Hyderabad to 3 days a week.] [** Introduced July 11 2012 **]
31. Bilaspur-Patna Express (Weekly) via Asansol, Jhajha [** Introduced July 6 2012 **]
33. Bhubaneswar-Bhawanipatna Link Express (Daily) via Vizianagaram [First train to/from Bhawanipatna.] [** Introduced August 11 2012 **]
34. Puri-Yesvantpur Garib Rath Express (Weekly) via Visakhapatnam, Guntur [** Introduced July 20 2012 **]
36. Bhubaneswar-Tirupati Express (Weekly) via Visakhapatnam,Gudur. [** Introduced July 14 2012 **]
37. Visakhapatnam-Lokmanya Tilak(T) Express (Weekly) via Titlagarh,Raipur [First connectivity between Rayagada/Kesinga and Mumbai. ] [** Introduced July 15 2012 **]
45. Shalimar-Chennai Express (Weekly) [More connectivity between Chennai and Puri/Bhubaneswar] [** Introduced June 23 2012 **]
53. Durg-Jagdalpur Express (Tri-Weekly) via Titlagarh [First connectivity between Koraput/Jeypore and Raipur.] [** Introduced October 10 2012 **]
68. Chennai-Puri Express (Weekly) [More connectivity between Chennai and Puri/Bhubaneswar] [** Introduced July 22 2012 **]
70. Asansol-Chennai Express (Weekly) via Purulia, Sambalpur,Vizianagaram [** Introduced July 28 2012 **]
71. Shalimar-Bhuj Express (Weekly) via Bilaspur, Katni, Bhopal[** Introduced April 20, 2013 **]
74. Malda Town-Surat Express ( Weekly) via Rampur Hat, Asansol, Nagpur [** Introduced July 9 2012 **]
Passenger trains:
5. Gunupur-Palasa (Via Parlakhemundi) Passenger (Daily) [** Introduced July 21 2012 **]
DEMU:
1. Baripada-Bangriposi (Daily) [** Introduced July 13 2012 **]
Extension of Trains:
4. 18417/18418 Bhubaneswar-Jharsuguda Rajya Rani Express to Rourkela [** Introduced July 17 2012 **]
13. 18005/18006 Howrah-Koraput Express to Jagdalpur [Connects Jeypore to Howrah.][** Introduced July 30 2012 **]
23. 58207/58208 Raipur-Kesinga Passenger to Bhawanipatna [Second connectivity to Bhawanipatna.][** Introduced August 12 2012 **]
Increase in Frequency:
13. 22603/22604 Kharagpur-Villupuram Express from 1 to 2 days. [More connectivity between Chennai and Puri/Bhubaneswar][** From April 10 2013 **]
Following is from the PIB report at http://pib.nic.in/newsite/erelease.aspx?relid=80759.
Odisha Chief Minister calls on Civil Aviation Minister
Civil Aviation Ministry to process the proposal for upgradation of Bhubaneswar Airport to International Airport
New Domestic Terminal Building to be ready by August
The Union Civil Aviation Minister Ch. Ajit Singh has said that the proposal of Odisha Government for the upgradation of Biju Patnayak Domestic Airport Bhubaneswar to International Airport will be processed by his Ministry for seeking the Cabinet approval.Ch. Ajit Singh said this today in a meeting with Odisha Chief Minister, Shri Navin Patnayak in New Delhi.
Ch. Ajit Singh has agreed to consider the proposal of upgradation of Bhubaneswar Airport and seek the Cabinet approval for the same in keeping with the State’s Tourism potential including famous Buddhist sites and monuments. Odisha is also rich in biodiversity, natural resources and mines which strengthens the claim of Bhubaneswar Airport to be upgraded as International Airport.
The new Domestic Terminal Building at Biju Patnayak Airport Bhubaneswar which is likely to be completed by August 2012, will cater to 800 passengers against the capacity of 500 of the present terminal building. The new terminal building will be completed at the cost of Rs 145.54 Crores and will include extension of Apron for additional one ‘D’ type and two ‘C’ type bay.
The Civil Aviation Minister, among other things, also discussed the issues relating to construction of main approach road from Sachivalaya Main Road to Airport, land acquisition of 22 acres for extension of basic strip upto 300 mtrs., land acquisition of 141 acres for extension of runway from 9000 ft to 10,500 ft., and the proposal for development and operationalisation of Jharsuguda Airport in phased manner, initially for ATR 72-500 type of aircraft operations and subsequently for AB0321.
The above PIB report is probably based on the Civil Aviation ministry’s release. The Odisha government’s release is in the news report http://orissadiary.com/CurrentNews.asp?id=32449. Following is from that report.
Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik today met the Union Minister for Civil Aviation, Ajit Singh, in New Delhi. Hon’ble Chief Minister, Odisha informed the Union Minister for Civil Aviation that Odisha does not have adequate air connectivity which acts as a major impediment to the industrialisation process and the growth of tourist traffic in the State.
He mentioned that the State does not have even a single International Airport and is managing with only one operational Domestic Airport at Bhubaneswar. The Chief Minister highlighted that the State has witnessed a significant spurt in investment in various industrial sectors and offers incredible tourist destinations including the World Heritage Monument, the Sun Temple Konark, the world famous Shri Jagannath Temple at Puri, many beautiful beaches and the largest Brackish water Lake, Chilka. He, accordingly, stressed upon the urgent need to scale up infrastructural support to the Aviation Sector in the State, both from the equity standpoint and the development perspective.
The Chief Minister requested the Union Minister to declare Biju Patnaik Airport as an International Airport at the earliest and provide the required facilities including an International Terminal with 24X7 ATC operations, customs and immigration facilities and security, etc. He asserted that the Ministry of Civil Aviation may accord early clearance to those Airlines which are interested to operate International flights to and from Bhubaneswar.
He also requested the Union Minister for providing necessary infrastructural support to the Jharsuguda Airport for enabling Domestic Airlines to operate from there. Chief Minister stated that the Airport Authority of India may also have a closer look at the other existing Airports in Odisha and provide the required infrastructural support to make the feasible Airports operational for Domestic Airlines. This, he stated, would improve the air connectivity within the State.
The Chief Minister assured that the State will provide all necessary support to the Ministry of Civil Aviation/ Airport Authority of India in their task of upgrading Bhubaneswar Airport to an International Airport and in making other Domestic Airports in the State operational. Union Minister appreciated the concerns of Odisha and assured that his Ministry will immediately prepare a Note for seeking the approval of the Cabinet for upgrading Biju Patnaik Airport to an International Airport.
For Jharsuguda Airport, the Union Minister stated that the length of the Airstrip will be increased to the desired minimum to make it operational for domestic airlines, at the earliest. He also assured the Hon’ble Chief Minister that his Ministry will actively explore the possibility of connecting Bhubaneswar to the Middle East and South East Asian countries. The Union Minister added that the Union Civil Aviation Ministry and Union Tourism Ministry will work closely with the State Government to host an Aviation/ Tourism Conference in Bhubaneswar for promoting tourist traffic to the State and assured that every possible support will be made to project Odisha as a world class tourist destination.
Note that in December during the Invest Bhubaneswar symposium flydubai had categorically said that if they get a slot from India to fly to/from Bhubaneswar then they will fly Bhubaneswar – Dubai.
Following is an excerpt from an article in Pioneer.
In the biodiversity management, three eco-tourism destination sites were developed in Satkosia, Bhitarakaniaka and Similipal. Community reserves and heritage sites were developed in five places. Bichitrapur mangrove area near Jaleswar, Rissia wildlife sanctuary in Baleswar wildlife division, Mandasaur in Phulbani forest division, Khasada waterfall, Black Pepper plantations, Gandahati waterfall and Red Sanders plantations in Paralakhemindi Forest Division were taken up for development as new eco-tourism destinations.
Ports have economic and infrastructural impact on the nearby areas. The recently operational Dhamara Port already has given a highway and railway line between Bhadrak and Dhamara. The proposed container depot (discussed in the Dharitri article below) will be another of its initial contribution.
Following is from Dharitri.
The following highlights are from http://www.orissa.gov.in/finance/Budgets/2012-13/BUDGET%20SPEECH%20ENGLISH.pdf. (This year’s and several previous year’s budgets since 2004-05 are linked from http://www.orissa.gov.in/finance/Budgets/default.html.)
Following is from Samaja:
Following is from a Business Standard article by Jayajit Das.
“We had submitted a Rs 1,200-crore connectivity plan for minor ports to the Government of India. In response, they have roped in a Gurgaon-based consultant- Louis Burger Consulting Pvt Ltd and they have already started the feasibility study. In 3-4 months, the consultant will be submitting its report to the Central government after which we can expect flow of funds”, a top official source told Business Standard.
It may be noted that there would be a major focus on road connectivity to major ports and airports in the country in the 12th Plan.
A Planning Commission Working Group on Central Roads Sector has demanded special package for this so that it is implemented on priority basis, separating it from overall National Highway planning.
While two-lane connectivity for 50 minor ports have been envisaged at a cost of Rs 5,000 crore, the cost of constructing roads to connect 24 airports has been estimated at Rs 1,800 crore. The proposal has been approved by the Steering Committee on Transport Sector for the 12th Plan held under the Chairmanship of Plan Panel Member BK Chaturvedi.
Earlier, the Orissa government which has identified 14 potential sites for the development of minor ports had requested the Government of India to formulate a policy to provide rail and road connectivity to these ports from the national network on the lines of major ports.
The Union ministry of shipping and highways is understood to offer 50 per cent funding for road and rail connectivity for these upcoming ports.
…
The state has witnessed grounding of investment of Rs 4,262.44 crore from non-major ports in the past 10 years.
The investments have come from four minor port developers- Dhamara Port Company Ltd (DPCL), Gopalpur Port Ltd (GPL), Creative Port Development Ltd and Navayug Engineering Ltd from 2002-03 up to the end of September last year.
Odisha benefits a lot from trains that connect Howrah with the south and with the west. In the last few days announcements for the initial operation of five such trains have been made. These trains are:
Of these five, the first four bring new connectivity.
Interestingly the recent articles in the Odisha media (both English and Oriya papers; see for example, here and here.) about these new trains do not mention 3 and 4. I suspect they did not realize that most (not all) trains from Howrah to the west take the Rourkela – Jharsuguda segment. In other words most trains from Howrah to Mumbai, Pune and Maharashtra in general, to Gujarat and some of the trains to Rajasthan take the Rourkela – Jharsuguda segment. However, there are a few trains from Howrah to West that do not take this segment.
The Darbhanga – Hyderbad Express and the Patna – Durg express also go through the Rourkela – Jharsuguda segment.
Similarly several trains from Jharkhand to the south go through Odisha taking the Rourkela – Jharsuguda – Sambalpur – Titlagarh – Rayagada – Vijianagaram route. Main among them are the daily Dhanbad – Allepey express and the Ranchi/Tata – Yesvantpur express.
The Samata express from Vizag to Delhi and the Bilaspur – Tirupaty Express go through the Rayagada – Titlagarh – Raipur segment. The Vizag to Amritsar Express takes the Palasa – Berhampur – Bhubaneswar and Bhubaneswar – Angul – Sambalpur – Jharsuguda segments.
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