___________

Following are excerpts from a report in Business Standard.

The Orissa government has urged the Centre to develop Digha-Talsari tourism circuit to attract more tourists to these locations. It is proposed to be developed in public-private-partnership (PPP) mode.

Since the state government has already identified 700 acres of land for the project, the state has urged the Union ministry of tourism to initiate measure for the development of this circuit.

It figured in the discussion of the chief minister Naveen Patnaik with the visiting Union minister of state for tourism, Sultan Ahmad in the state secretariat today.

Ahmad is reported to have agreed to provide Central support for the international convention centre being planned in Bhubaneswar.

“The chief minister has proposed the setting up an international convention centre to attract tourists to Orissa. We will consider the proposal”, Ahmad told the media after meeting Patnaik.

… On the extension of the ‘Maharaja Express Classical India’ train to Bhubaneswar, the minister said, the ministry would consider and hold discussion on it after the state government sends its proposal.

…  Since the existing packaging of the train is for 12 days and 11 nights, it can come from Delhi via Bodhgaya-Kolkata to Bhubaneswar by extending the package to 12 days and 12 nights.

Similarly, the state government has sought the conversion of the status of Food Craft Institute at Bolangir into an Indian Institute of Health Hotel Management (IIHM). The state government would provide additional land for it. Besides, the government has also urged the Centre to set up a IIHM at Rourkela, Mishra added.

The Orissa State Road Project web site is at http://osrp.gov.in/index.htm. It has a nice detailed map of roads in Orissa. The following details is from its "About Us" page.

The State Govt. during January 2005 had proposed to avail loan from World Bank and JBIC (Japan Bank for International Co-operation) for improvement of the state roads. The proposals were sent to the World Bank and JBIC through the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways and Department of Economic Affairs, Govt. of India.

The proposals were approved by the SLPMC on EAP (State Level Project Monitoring Committee on External Aided Project), chaired by the Chief Secretary, Orissa, on 20.01.05. The preliminary proposals included 27 nos. of road project under World Bank Scheme and 14 road projects under JBIC scheme. The project cost proposed under JBIC was Rs. 715.34 Crores for 805 Km of state road and that under World Bank Rs. 1642.44 Crores for 2197 Km of state road.

The Department of Expenditure, Ministry of Finance, Govt. of India gave clearance to the proposed World Bank project in their letter dated 07.04.2005 addressed to the State Govt. (Finance Department). However, the proposed JBIC road project has not yet been approved / cleared by the Govt. of India.

After clearance from Govt. of India, a full identification mission from the World Bank comprising Dr.Binyam Reja (Task Team Leader), A.K. Swaminathan (Sr. Transport Specialist), Mohammad Hassan (Sr. Social Development Specialist), and Ernst Hunning (Institutional Development Consultant) visited the State from April 14-22, 2005 to initiate the preparation of the proposed Orissa State Roads Project (OSRP). The mission met with concerned officials of the Government of Orissa (GOO) and senior management of the Orissa Works Department (OWD), and carried out field visits to some of the proposed roads.

During the April 2005 World Bank Identification Mission, it was agreed that, detailed project preparation for the proposed road network shall commence in a phased manner in three phases i.e Phase-I, Phase-II & Phase-III ( Para -11 & Para-27 (b) , (e) : April 2005 Aide Memoir of World Bank).

The World Bank team had discussed with the Finance Department for Plan provisions and necessary counterpart funding. After a detail discussion, the World Bank had agreed to:

                a.         Fund a Project for improvement Road infrastructure amounting to Rs. 1200 Cr. Out of which state has to bear Rs. 200 Cr as counterpart funding. Total World Bank loan ceiling shall be US$ 225 Million.

                b.         High density road corridors having sufficient economic viability of about 1200  1400 Kms shall be included in the project.

                c.         Balance roads shall be identified after carrying out a network analysis and economic viability from the balance 3700 Kms of State Highways in other phases subsequently.

–     At the preliminary stage, identified about 825 Km of Road Stretches to be included in the

Phase-I of the Project. These roads were selected from the earlier dropped project for

which a full-scale techno-economic feasibility study was carried out.

1              Jagatpur  Salepur  Kendrapara  Chandbali  Bhadrak (SH9 & SH 9A) -152 Km

2              Bhadrak  Anandpur  Karanjia  Tongabilla (Jashipur) (SH 53 & SH 49) -142 Km

3              Khariar  Bhawanipatna  Muniguda  Rayagada  Kereda (SH 16, SH 6 & MDR 48b) -213 Km

4              Berhampur  Rayagada (SH 17 & SH 4)          -201 Km

5              Banarpal  Daspalla (MDR 18, MDR 18A & MDR 64)    -89 Km

6              Bhanjanagar -Aska (SH  7)               -38Km

–The World Bank however desired to check the viability of these roads by carrying out an updated techno-economic feasibility study.

–The project also includes identification of road stretches to be taken up in Phase  II of the project after carrying out network analysis for all State roads.

–Accordingly a domestic Consultant has been engaged from Govt of Orissa s own resources to carryout:

1              the Economic viability of Phase  I Roads;

2              the feasibility study & DPR of Phase  I Roads and

3              the network analysis of all State Highways of the State and identification of phase II roads.

   The World Bank Mission had:

–     Agreed for a Project for improvement of about 1200  1400 Km State Roads with a

Project size of Rs. 1480 Cr. (US$ 315 Million) with loan component of Rs. 1175 Cr. (US$

250 Million) and counterpart funding of Rs. 305 Cr. (US$ 65 Million);

The World Bank team again visited the state during September 2005 and inspected the roads proposed by the State Government to finalise roads for inclusion in Phase-I of the project (Para -12 & Para-14 : September 2005 Aide Memoir of World Bank) . During the said visit, some of the important roads proposed under JBIC assistance (Japan Bank for International Co-operation ) was included in the Phase-I list of World Bank roads after discussion with the World Bank, since the proposal submitted to JBIC was not cleared by the Dept. of Economic Affairs, Govt. of India.

1              Jagatpur  Salepur  Kendrapara  Chandbali  Bhadrak (SH9 & SH 9A) -152 Km

2              Bhadrak  Anandpur  Karanjia  Tongabilla (Jashipur) (SH 53 & SH 49) -138Km

3              Khariar  Bhawanipatna  Muniguda  Rayagada  Kereda (SH 16, SH 6 & MDR 48b) -223 Km

4              Berhampur  JK Pur _ Rayagada (SH 17 & SH 4)          -202 Km

5              Banarpal  Daspalla -Bhanjanagar -Aska (MDR 18, MDR 18A & MDR 64,SH  7)) -201Km

Approval from Hon ble Chief Minster to the roads proposed under Phase-I of World Bank scheme, covering a total length of 835 Km was obtained during October 2005, so as to proceed for detailed feasibility, economic analysis and other associated studies for Detailed Project Preparation and bidding. The major criteria used for selection of these roads were traffic volume, carriageway width, pavement conditions, economic activity in the influence area of the road, and connectivity of the roads.

Subsequently, after consideration of the Feasibility Study prepared by the DPR Consultant, the World

Bank Mission during their visit to the State in November 6-10, 2006 have decided to improve the

following roads in the Year  I of the Project.

1              Chandabali  Bhadrak  Anandapur

2              Khariar  Bhawanipatana

3              Berhampur  Taptapani

The World Bank had suggested to carryout detail economic viability and feasibility study for the 835 Km roads proposed under Phase-1 and Network Analysis of the entire State Highway Network ( covering about 3955 Km, leaving 835 Km Phase-1 roads ) for identification / prioritization of 1600 Km roads for improvement in Phase-II & Phase-III ( Para -11 & Para-27 (a), (e) : April 2005 Aide Memoir of World Bank). They had suggested to use the latest traffic and road condition survey data so as to assess which roads should fall under rehabilitation, and which roads should fall under upgrading in the detailed economic analysis.

Accordingly, economic viability and detailed feasibility study for the 835 Km roads proposed under Phase-1 and Network Analysis of the entire State Highway Network ( covering about 3955 Km, leaving 835 Km Phase-1 roads ) for identification / prioritization of 1600 Km roads for Phase-II & Phase-III were carriedout with help of a domestic consultants. M/S CEG Ltd from Rajasthan. The economic justifications of proposed road improvements under Phase-1 have been analyzed by using the life cycle costing economic tool ! Highway Development and Management Model (HDM-4) version 1.3" of World Bank. The economic evaluation has been carried out on the basis of incremental costs and benefits comparing the total net benefits with various alternatives. The economic indicators like NPV (Net Present Value) and EIRR ( Economic Internal Rate of Return) are then calculated. The final list of roads included in Phase-I alongwith summary of their techno-economic analysis with NPV, EIRR and ratio of NPV and cost etc. is shown at Annexure-I: The EIRR of each of the five corridors under Phase-1 varies from 30.53% to 17.28% with NPV of Rs 13172.8 million. It may be noted that the roads with EIRR more than 12% are considered financially viable under the World Bank loan.

 The World Bank had further intimated that the Project shall include

Update: Expressbuzz also reports on this.

Following is from today’s Dharitri.

From the above, and its actions in the past, it seems that Orissa government’s future plan in terms of airports are:

• Make an international airport in Bhubaneswar. (Shifting to the new location will take another 10 years.)
• Make an airport in Jharsuguda to cater for Bargarh-Sambalpur-Jharsuguda-Rourkela belt: Will take 2-3 yrs to be operational.
• Plan for an airport in Jeypore: Will take 8-10 years to be operational
• Plan for an airport in Rasgovindpur (near Jaleswar, close to Balasore and Baripada): Will take 8-10 years to be operational

Couple of implications of the above are: Berhampur and Rourkela may not get functional airports in the near future (say next 10 years) as they are close to airports at Bhubaneswar and Jharsuguda respectively. The overall airport situation in Orissa in 10 years will be as follows:

Now lets analyze how feasible the airports at Jeypore and Rasgovindpur will be.

• Jeypore: It is 258 kms from Visakhapatnam by Rail and 224 kms by road. It is 378 kms from Raipur; 450 kms from Jharsuguda and 520 kms from Bhubaneswar. It will be at the junction of two expressways and thus would be able to serve a large population in Orissa, Andhra Pradesh and Chhatisgarh.
• Rasgovindpur: It will be 30-40 kms from Balasore and Baripada; 70-80 kms from Digha; 80-90 kms from Kharagpur mostly on the expressway; 90-100 kms from Bhadrak mostly on the expressway, close to two expressways; 200kms from Kolkata airport;  210-220 kms from Tatanagar and 260-270 kms from Bhubaneswar. (Tatanagar being only 170 kms from Ranchi may not have a viable commercial airport for some time. Kharagpur being 120 kms from Kolkata will not have a viable commercial airport for a long time.) Thus it is far enough to the nearest airports in Bhubaneswar and DumDum (Kolkata), but at the same time there are enough population centers (Balasore, Baripada, Bhadrak, Digha, Kharagpur, Medinipur, Jhargram, Ghatsila) that will be close to this airport than the existing airports. So this aiport could serve a significant population in Orissa, Jharkhand and West Bengal.

Following are excerpts from a report in expressbuzz.com.

the Government has distributed over 86,000 titles under the Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006, by December second week. … close to 90 per cent of such titles is in 15 Maoist-affected districts. To be precise, 78,011 titles have so far been distributed in these areas.

… Forest Rights Committee received a good 3,22,590 claims of which 2,86,006 were verified and sent to gram sabhas.

The gram sabha-level committee approved 2,13,666 claims recommending them for titles to the sub-divisional-level committees which verified the cases and in turn sent 99,868 claims to the district-level committees (DLCs). Finally, the DLCs gave a green signal to 88,136 claims for issue of title.

… Of the 86,878 titles distributed yet, 13,321 titles are in Malkangiri alone. …

“It’s very important to note that 17 per cent of these title certificates so far distributed in the 15-affected districts are in Malkangiri alone which at the same time account for 25 per cent (31,570 acre) land.

… The trend shows in Koraput too. The number of title certificates so far been distributed stands at 13,203 which translates into 21,784 acre land. …

For other Maoist-affected districts like Gajapati, Rayagada, Sambalpur and Sundargarh, the rate of title distribution is very high.

… Interestingly, of 1,38,004 acre land for which title certificates have been distributed, 1,25,401 acre are in tribal districts of Mayurbhanj, Jajpur, Nayagarh, Deogarh, Dhenkanal, Keonjhar, Sambalpur, Sundargarh, Gajapati, Ganjam, Kandhamal, Koraput, Malkangiri, Nabarangpur and Rayagada.

So far, 3,551 primitive tribal groups have been issued the titles accounting for over 5,559 acre land.

Following is an excerpt from a PTI news report.

The Orissa government today said it would set up a Forest Academy and expedite the process of giving forest land rights to people living in jungles.

"The Forest Academy will train officials in forest management and protect wild life with more professionalism," Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik said at a conference of Divisional Forest Officers (DFO) here.

He said Orissa has 20 lakh hectares of poorly managed and degraded forests. Restoration of tree cover and increased vegetation on these degraded forests would make the government’s anti-poverty programmes successful.

The forest department had drawn up a plan for the next five years to give forest cover to ten lakh hectares of land.

Farm forestry and agro forestry had huge potential to improve the income of households, he said.

Following is an excerpt from a report in Expressbuzz.com.

The State Government has decided to extend the targeted rural initiative for poverty termination and infrastructure (TRIPTI) scheme to all the 314 blocks.

… TRIPTI is being implemented under the Mission Shakti through the self-help groups (SHGs).

The Chief Minister directed the officials to create the required infrastructure for implementation of the scheme across the State. The scheme is being implemented in 8,369 villages of 38 blocks of the State covering 12,54,607 rural families.

The World Bank-assisted scheme aims at capacity building and employment generation for the women with the help of women SHGs.

It has agreed to provide a loan assistance for the implementation of the scheme for five years.

Naveen also reviewed the progress of Mission Shakti. So far, 46.5 lakh women have become members of 3.87 lakh SHGs. According to a release from the Chief Minister’s Office, so far a loan assistance of Rs 1,367 crore has been provided to the SHGs in the State.

Official sources maintained that during 2008-09, one lakh SHGs from all the 30 districts were provided assistance of Rs 50 crore for creation of livelihood. Similarly, 1,614 SHGs in the KBK region (undivided Kalahandi, Balangir and Koraput districts) were provided Rs 80.7 lakh for creation of job opportunities. SHGs in the urban areas were provided a loan assistance of Rs 2 crore during the year.

Besides, the SHGs have also dug 7,000 water bodies under the livelihood support programme for pisci-culture. The release claimed that 63 SHGs distributed LPGs under the Shakti Gaon Programme. The SHGs also implemented mid-day meal scheme in 34,000 schools and members of 7,000 SHGs worked as public distribution system (PDS) agents.

The State Government has signed an agreement with Reliance Fresh and ITC for marketing products from the SHGs. …

Many of you may have parents, friends and relatives who employ domestic workers in Orissa. Please convey them regarding the following rules on minimum wage so that they do not run afoul of the law.

Following is from a report in Business Standard.

The Orissa government has raised the minimum wages for the domestic helps. The minimum wage of such workers has been fixed at the same level as for the unskilled workers. So a domestic help will be entitled to get a basic wage of Rs 2340 per month.

Besides, they will be entitled to a special allowance (variable dearness allowance) from the date of fixation of minimum wages at the rate of Rs 20 per day for a block period of 2 years. It will be applicable for the domestic workers engaged in cleaning of vessels, washing of clothes, sweeping and swabbing floor, care of old and infirm persons, kitchen shopping, taking children to school among others. For implementation of this decision, employment of domestic workers has been made a part of the schedule of the minimum wages act, 1948.

They will have a six days week and an off day and will be paid 7 days wages for the 6 working days. If they work on any weekly off day, they will be paid double the daily wage. On the otherhand, the owners who employ domestic helps will pay 20 percent less if they provide 3 meals a day (breakfast, lunch and dinner).The owners can’t deduct any amount from their wages for providing accommodation, water and electricity.

The labour and employment department of the Orissa government has come out with the required notification, sources said.

Following is from Samaja.

The second article above says that the central government agreed to this terminal market due to Mr. Amarnath Pradhan’s proposal. I am not sure how true this is as the following call came out in 2008.

The official site http://rtiorissa.gov.in/ has tons of information.

Following is an excerpt from a report in Pioneer.

the BJD has decided to bring four resolutions against the Centre. “We will move resolution against the Centre for neglecting the cause of Odisha in the field of railway, for not increasing mine royalty in a regular manner and not giving its due share to the State, Centre’s negligence in providing help to the State to face the Maoist menace and Government’s failure to provide flood assistance to the State,” Mohanty added.

I agree with the above.

Following is from http://rc.orissa.gov.in/index3.asp?linkid=30&sublinkid=1129.

PRESS RELEASE DT.04.11.09(CM ATTENDED THE CONFERENCE OF CHIEF MINISTERS AND STATE MINISTERS )

GOVERNMENT OF ORISSA

PRESS RELEASE

New Delhi

November 4, 2009

Shri Naveen Patnaik, Hon’ble Chief Minister,  Orissa today attended the Conference of Chief Ministers, State Ministers (Tribal/Social Welfare and Forest departments) on "IMPLEMENTATION STATUS OF SCHEDULED TRIBES AND OTHER TRADITIONAL FOREST DWELLERS (Recognition of Forest Rights) ACT 2006" inaugurated by Dr. Manmohan Singh, Hon’ble Prime Minister of India at National Agriculture Science Centre, New Delhi. CM addressed the Conference and gave a vivid account of initiatives undertaken by the State Government for development of  Tribals  in  Orissa.

Chief Minister stated that Scheduled Tribes constitute almost a quarter  of the total population of the State and Orissa has the unique distinction of having 62 different types of Scheduled Tribe communities and 13 Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PTGs). He informed that the Government of Orissa has undertaken   several   steps to ensure all round development of the Scheduled Tribes (including the PTGs). The initiatives include setting up of 1004 ST Girl’s Hostels, enhancement of scholarship for ST Boys & Girls, establishment of 19 educational complexes in micro project areas for promotion of Girl’s education among the PTGs, establishment of one B.Ed Training College in Kandhamal, setting up of 11 Ekalavya Model Residential Schools etc. The State Government is also committed to establish another 5000 ST Girl’s Hostels over a period of five years to provide residential facilities for 5 lakh ST Girls, CM  stated.

Chief Minister further mentioned that after the promulgation of the Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights Act), 2006, the Government of Orissa had taken pro-active measures to settle the land rights (both individual and community) in favour of the Tribals and other forest dwellers which they had been occupying/enjoying for ages without any legal record of rights. After vacation of the Stay Order of the Hon’ble High Court of Orissa on the distribution of Certificates of Title on 12^th August, 2009, the State Government has been implementing the Act on a Mission mode, he informed.

CM stated  that substantial progress has been made on implementation of  the Forest Rights Act, 2006 and about 2.64 lakh cases have already been verified out of more than 3 lakh cases filed by the Tribals with the Forest Rights Committees (FRCs) as on 31^st October 2009.  He further informed that the Gram Sabhas have approved about 2 lakh cases and out of which the Sub Divisional Level Committees have already  approved  72,000 cases. The District Level Committees have approved about 68,000 cases out of which Certificates of Title have been distributed to more than 55,000 cases. About 4,000 Certificates of Title have been distributed among the PTGs out of about 16,000 PTG families in the State.

Chief Minister stated that it might not be enough to only confer legal rights to the Tribals over the land and  suggested that steps should be initiated to provide irrigation facilities and improve  productivity of these lands by dovetailing various programmes  such as National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS) etc. He also informed that the Government of Orissa had constituted a Watershed Mission to improve the productivity of rainfed lands and desired that  the Government of India  should support this programme so that it can be extended to  development of the  lands being settled with the Tribals. 

******

Following is from http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/irf/2009/127365.htm.

In Kandhamal, Orissa State, individuals affiliated with left-wing Maoist extremists killed Hindu religious leader Swami Laxmanananda Saraswati and four Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) workers on August 23, 2008. Although ultraleft Maoists claimed responsibility, the murders exacerbated underlying socio-economic tensions between the dalits and the tribals and unleashed a wave of revenge killings, assaults, and property destruction. According to widely accepted government statistics, 40 persons died and 134 were injured; most of the victims were Christians. The large-scale violence, which included the August 25 alleged rape of a Christian nun, attracted worldwide media attention. The central Government sent 39 companies of paramilitary forces to restore peace and security. State authorities established 18 emergency camps to house displaced persons, worked with NGOs to deliver assistance and relief to victims, and allocated funds to compensate next of kin and repair damaged houses, businesses, and places of worship. The police arrested 1,200 persons and registered more than 1,000 criminal cases. On April 21, 2009, police arrested Maoist leader P. Rama Rao in connection with Saraswati’s murder. According to several independent accounts, an estimated 3,200 refugees remained in relief camps, down from 24,000 in the immediate aftermath of the violence.

In March 2009 Orissa’s ruling party, Biju Janata Dal, terminated its 11-year alliance with its coalition partner, the BJP, reportedly in part over differences in responding to the Kandhamal violence. The state government, supplemented by central police, ensured that all communities in Kandhamal were able to freely and fairly exercise their franchise in April 2009 state and parliamentary elections. Since the reelection of the Biju Janata Dal Party, without its former coalition partner, the state government has worked with the central government to rebuild communities in Kandhamal both through infrastructure improvements and peace councils with various stakeholders. In June 2009 the central Government disbursed $ 300,000 (Rs. 14,648,437) compensation to the next of kin of 35 Kandhamal riot victims.

A part that is not mentioned in the report is that in the 2009 April elections the BJP party which was accused of playing a role in the violence in Orissa was decimated across the state. Out of 147 state level seats, their number reduced from 32 to 6 and in the national level MP (member of parliament) seats their number in Orissa (total seats 21) reduced from 7 to ZERO. The other party that was in power in Orissa, BJD, severed its coalition with BJP before the elections  and went on to win the elections with a larger number of seats than before.

The following is constructed using today’s data in the world gazetteer.

Notes:

1. Delhi metropolitan area (not listed above)  has a population of 18,639,762 encompasses the state of Delhi and parts of UP and Haryana.
2. In the above Chandigarh is listed under Punjab mainly because there is more growth in the Punjab suburbs of Chandigarh. It is actually a centrally administered unit and capital of both Punjab and Haryana.

Considering the close relation between urbanization and other developmental indicators, Orissa must aim to have at least 5 metropolitan areas other than Bhubaneswar with population of 10 lakhs within the next 25 years.  Those are:

• Rourkela-Kansbahal-Rajgangpur (within 5 years)
• Berhampur-Chhatrapur-Hinjilicut (within 10 years)
• Sambalpur-Jharsuguda-Belpahar-Brajarajnagar (within 10 years)
• Baripada-Balasore (within 20 years)
• Koraput-Jeypore-Sunabeda (within 25 years)

Following is an excerpt from a report in Business Standard.

The Orissa cabinet today approved a proposal of the Orissa Power Generation Corporation (OPGC), a joint venture between the Orissa government and the AES, to adopt super critical technology with a configuration of 2X260 Mw and sharing of power for the proposed expansion of unit 3 and unit 4 of the Ib Thermal Power Station of OPGC.

The cabinet chaired by the chief minister Naveen Patnaik also allowed OPGC a time gap of 6 months between the commissioning of the 3rd and 4th units.

However, in case of delay in commissioning of the 4th unit beyond 6 months, OPGC would have to give 450 Mw from the 3rd unit against the approved 420 Mw.

An excellent blog on Berhampur’s growth is at http://futureberhampur.blogspot.com/.

(Thanks to reader Abhisek for the pointers.)

The following is from Orissa gazette of December 30 2008 making the declaration.

 

EXTRAORDINARY

PUBLISHED BY AUTHORITY

No. 2382, CUTTACK, TUESDAY, DECEMBER 30, 2008/PAUSA 9, 1930

HOUSING & URBAN DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT

NOTIFICATION

The 29th December 2008

S.R.O. No. 641/2008

In exercise of the powers conferred by clause (2) of article 243 Q of the Constitution of India the Governor of Orissa hereby specifies the local area comprising the whole of the Berhampur Municipal Council in the district of Ganjam with the boundaries described in the Schedule given below as a larger urban area.

SCHEDULE

North : Chandaniapahada, Ambagada, Ratnapur, Jagadalpur, Nimakhandi, Luchapada, Bhavinipur, Bada Gumula, Pali Gumula, Sana Kausasthali and Narendrapur.

South : Aruva pali, Ganja, Brahmapali, Khajuria, Phulata, Haladiapadar.

East : Raghunathpur, Pathura, Dura, Mandiapalli, Aruvapali.

West : Bendalia Lathi, Sukunda, Chandania pahada, Ambagada.

[No. 33010-Ele(Con)6/2008/HUD.]

By order of the Governor

Dr. A.K.PANDA

Commissioner-cum-Secretary to Government

Following are some excerpts from a report in Hindu.

The Berhampur Development Authority (BDA) organised a launching workshop on Saturday on the preparations of Comprehensive Development Plan (CDP) for a greater Berhampur. The CDP is to be prepared by the Town and Country Planning Organisation (TCPO), the technical advisory body of Central Ministry of Urban Development. The new master plan would be Geographical Information System (GIS)-based. It would depend on remote sensing data provided by satellites as well as the ground level data collected through surveys. …

The preparation of the CDP would cost around Rs. 1,09,75,000. The State Government, which would bear the cost, has provided Rs. 35.50 lakhs for it in the first phase.

It may be noted that Berhampur, a major trading and cultural centre had its last master plan way back in 1969. This master plan envisioned the urban growth and required basic amenities for a population of over two lakh persons by the year 1986. The present CDP however would provide urban development plan for the area now under the BDA which includes areas of urban bodies like Berhampur, Gopalpur and Chatrapur and 139 villages. This would be part of the greater Berhampur with a vision of development for next 30 years. The CDP would comprise a total area of 317 square km having a population of 5,13,760 persons. It is expected that the CDP would be ready in 18 months.

Following are some excerpts from that article:

The fact is that there is no secret formula.  There is, instead, a clean slate, commonsensical approach to politics that would sound rational to the average citizen, but often confounds hardcore politicos.  There are three key components of this new approach.  First, at the core of it, is a remarkable level of sincerity and dedication.  For a man who till the age of 50 spent lots of time in the rarefied social circles of New York, London and the south of France, Naveen Patnaik has not travelled abroad in more than a decade. And he rarely sees his personal home in Delhi either, only visiting the city a few times a year for official engagements.  This monk-like total immersion in Orissa does not go unnoticed by the public.   …

The second is a deep commitment to good governance.  This goes far beyond lip service, and includes numerous instances of risky decisions.  That is, risky by the standards of conventional wisdom, but which ultimately turned out to be huge political successes.  In the early days, every time key cabinet colleagues were dismissed for corruption, or well-connected businessmen were arrested for criminal intimidation, there were widespread predictions that the government would fall because these actions were “naïve” and “impractical” and that “too many powerful forces were being taken on.”  But instead, they resulted in sharp increases in popular support. 

Gutsy decisions were taken across the board.  The inefficient and corrupt lift irrigation corporation was broken up, unsettling thousands of employees, but it was replaced with the revolutionary pani panchayat system, where lakhs of villagers took responsibility for better management of water.  Good governance was not all about taking on entrenched vested interests.   Orissa, then broke and deeply indebted, also showed an open mind in quickly adopting the Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management (FRBM) Act and the Value Added Tax (VAT) at a time when many states were opposing them tooth and nail.   

One of the most important decisions involved taking on the government of India and the powerful mining lobby.  Despite having enormous mineral reserves, Orissa had long been shortchanged by discriminatory central government policies which yielded a pittance in royalties and encouraged downstream investments to be made elsewhere.  The state government’s new value addition policy linked the grant of mining leases to investments in the downstream processing plants.  This has led to a huge surge of investment:  more capital has flowed into Orissa in the past five years than in the previous fifty-five!  The subsequent surge in state revenues has enabled many pro-poor policies. 

The third component is diligent homework and a clinical, dispassionate, political decision-making process.   This may sound obvious to the lay person, but is still not common in political parties.  Take candidate selection, for instance.  In the absence of US-style primaries, most parties even today still choose candidates by a complex process that involves intrigue, lobbying, drama, sabotage, subterranean tests of loyalty, unverifiable caste arithmetic, and even kickbacks. That often leads to sub-optimal choices.  In Orissa, a quick glance at both BJP and Congress candidates reveal some breathtakingly unsuitable names who never stood a ghost of a chance.   

Almost from the day the BJD was formed, and perhaps because its founder was unfamiliar with politics in the beginning, the party has relied on extensive surveys, opinion polls, exit polls, etc.  These have never been devised to advertise the party’s strength, but rather to assess the ground realities and highlight weaknesses.  They have always been conducted by highly rated external agencies, but quietly and only for internal party use.  When it came to candidate selection, the strict criterion of winnability was applied to all, and no amount of lobbying or political clout made any difference. 

Expressbuzz.com has an editorial on the topic and it has some suggestion for Naveen.

Every media outlet, print and screen, has been vying to find words to express suitable praise for Naveen Patnaik, the hat-trick winner in Orissa. He has been variously described as having a magician’s touch, an uncanny ability to read the Oriya mood, someone not beholden to the usual corrupt structure, a clean practitioner of governance and much more. We, too, acknowledge his feat, especially when so many of his more experienced counterparts have been exposed as inept players of blind man’s bluff. Having done so, however, we would like to take our readers back to a small news item we had published early this month, sent by a staffer from the city of Paradip. In summary, Patnaik had laid the foundation stone for renovation of the 82 km Cuttack-Paradip state highway in July 2007, promising completion in two years (cost: Rs 125 crore). Our staffer reported that 20 per cent of the promised work has been done, and there are gaping holes on the newly laid stretch; locals say the cracks began in the first week. Officials stonewalled queries, save the project director, who admitted to irregularities and said the thing would be redone.

And our point is simple: what exactly does this say of the state of Orissa’s administration and its accountability, after a decade of Naveen-rule? Obviously, very little has changed in the basic system. We make the point not to tar Patnaik in his moment of glory, but to bring both the man and our readers to earth, in order that this state of affairs be addressed. Changing a system single-handed is difficult enough at the best of times, but we suggest the state of a road project is an excellent place to start. Road specifications and how to achieve these are standardised; flaws show up very swiftly, and responsibility is easily pinned on whoever had the contract, the overseer and the person who approved the payment. Start enforcing the rules here and make a few examples; the system will begin reforming with urgency, without any more orders. Let each road project, in Orissa and elsewhere, display the contract’s details at 100 ft intervals, with information of where to complain. And ensure only that all complaints to state bodies are promptly registered and acknowledged, whether these come in writing or on telephone. And, weekly, put these up on a website. You’ll no longer require a hero in the chief minister’s chair; citizens will take charge.

Following is an excerpt from a report in azcentral.com about mine clean up in Arizona.

Bankrupt Tucson miner Asarco LLC has agreed to pay $30 million to clean up three contaminated mine sites in Arizona and settle the state’s longstanding environmental claims against the company.

… The property, including $4 million to improve and maintain one of Arizona’s few remaining riparian areas, compensates the state for Asarco’s contamination over the years of Mineral Creek, a tributary to the Gila River in Pinal County.

… The $1.6 billion "global settlement" would clean up some 75 sites across the country that have been polluted by Asarco over more than 100 years of active mining and smelting activity.

I wonder if Orissa government can make similar claims against those mine owners in Orissa who pollute the environment. They should start looking carefully at the Sukinda Valley and the Joda-Barbil area which rank very high among polluted places in the world.

Following up on an earlier posting http://www.orissalinks.com/orissagrowth/archives/1842 Dharitri reports that the center has agreed in principle to set up an army base in Orissa.

Orissa state water and sanitation mission has advertised a hotline where people can call if their village water system or tubewell has a problem or if someone wants to know more about installing their own private latrine. Following is the ad that appeared in Dharitri.