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New Indian Express reports on a response given in the assembly regrading the status of the Ranch-Vijaywada highway. Following are some excerpts:

Work on the Orissa part of the Visakhapatnam-Ranchi Highway would be started after the detailed project report (DPR) is cleared by the Centre, Works Minister AU Singhdeo informed the Assembly on Friday. … the Minister said that 1,219 km of the highway would pass through Orissa. The road would connect Motu, Malkangiri, Koraput, Aska, Boudh, Keonjhar and Tiring. Singhdeo said that 237 km of the road will be national highway, 106 km would be under the Prime Minister’s Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY) and 215 km would be constructed with World Bank funding adding DPR is being prepared for 610 km. … the Minister said that 167 km of the road would pass through Malkangiri, 138 km through Koraput and 127 km through Rayagada districts respectively. It would pass through tribal and backward districts in which the Naxalites have spread their base. Tenders have been floated for 64.3 km long Malkangiri-Jeypore road. Besides, work has already been started for 80 km-long Phulbani-Bhanjanagar road with Rs 20 crore estimate. SMEC International Private Limited has been entrusted the survey work for by-pass to Koraput town.

Telegraph describes the route as follows:

Vijayawada- Kodar- Khammam- Motu- Malkangiri- Jeypore- Koraput- Rayagada- Digapahandi- Aska- Phulbani- Boudhi- Deogarh- Keonjhar- Tiring- Hata- Chaibasa- Chakradharpur- Khunti- Ranchi.

Telegraph has reported on it. Following are some excerpts.

… the Union rural development ministry has released in one go Rs 466 crore towards Prime Minister Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY), …

He told the media that Rs 1,684 crore had been sanctioned for Orissa under PMGSY, out of which Rs 466 crore has now been released.

“Under PMGSY scheme, roads for 12,539 km have been approved by the Centre for Orissa, of which construction on 6,656 km has been completed,” he added. …

Singh said the Sampurna Gramin Rozgar Yojana would be implemented in those districts not covered under the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme.

A sum of Rs 46.91 crore had been sanctioned for Orissa under the SGRY for the current fiscal, of which Rs 34.25 crore had been released and Rs 3.60 crore utilised so far, he said. …

The minister also informed that the “below poverty line (BPL)” census for 2002 was over but clarifications have been sought from the planning commission on the number of BPL families in “adjusted share”.

The state government had requested the Centre that selection of Indira Awas Yojana (IAY) beneficiaries for 2007-08 be allowed from the permanent IAY waitlist prepared by the state on the basis of BPL census 1997 as, the state administration feels, the 2002 census is incomplete.

Singh said he has accepted the request.

There have been several news items regarding the beauty of handicrafts made up of dried grass which becomes yellow and golden in color. Following are some excerpts on this from a report in New Kerala.

Dried grass, which becomes yellow and golden in colour, has been innovatively used by a group of Oriya women to craft attractive items of daily use.

The grass is made of Khus Khus stem. It is sturdy and can be bent to any shape to be turned into items of household use. It can also be crafted into decorative items. This has been the occupation of a group of Orissa’s Jajanga Village of Kendrapara District for the last ten years.

Nearly 80 per cent of the women in Jajanga village create various decorative items like flowers, baskets, wall-hangings, mats and pen-stands. All that each of them earn is about Rs.500 to 1,500 per month. …

The Golden grass items were introduced to Jajanga by Mahila Samiti committee headed by Swarna Prabha Swain. Today, it exists as a cottage industry here. …

At times they take five days to make an item. They take pride in their produce, and hope that the day is not far when their handicrafts are sold all over the country, or at least in all part of Orissa.

Perhaps the Orissa government can push this village to become an arts-n-crafts village like Raghurajpur and include it in a tourist circuit. In general, Orissa government should identify a few more craftsman villages where 80% of the houses are involved in some handicraft or some art-n-craft and develop amenities there  and include them in tourist circuits. Besides the above mentioned village other candidates could be a village or villages in Baragarh district that weave Sambalpuri sarees and villages near Pipli. My knowledge of such villages is rudimentary, but we will keep our eyes open and report about them here.

Pragativadi reports that the Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC) has taken two Orissa villages under the cluster village program. These villages are Jayapur in Koraput district and Erkana in Khorda district. Following is an excerpt from that report.

... under the programme, the Commission would encourage leather and industry in Jayapur while it would boost bamboo craft in Erkana village. Stating that the Commission is providing all support to the artisans of these two villages to enable them to further sharpen their skills in their profession, she said that efforts are being taken to provide high-end technical support to these artisans. She also said that the Commission has selected 534 rural entrepreneurs to set up small scale industries. Joshi also said that KVIC has already set up 4853 small scale units in Orissa under the National Rural Employment Generation Programme while it has insured 1220 rural entrepreneurs under Janashree Bima yojana in the state.

New Indian Express reports on some of these plans. Following are some excerpts from that report.

The State Government has decided to prepare a five year plan to expand the activities of the Watershed Mission to benefit six lakh landless families.

Official sources said that the activities of the Mission would be intensified in areas inhabited by tribals of the Juang community to create employment opportunities.

Mission activities include digging of ponds to meet the water requirement in the villages and promotion of dairy and horticulture. …

Other projects undertaken under the Mission include the Integrated Watershed Development Project (IWDP), a centrally sponsored programme implemented in 23 districts. The outlay of the project has been fixed at Rs 148.07 crore for 2.78 lakh hectare.

The Drought Prone Area Programme (DPAP), another centrally sponsored scheme is being implemented in eight districts covering 47 identified drought prone blocks.

Sources said that 800 micro watershed projects have already been executed while another 600 are being implemented. The total expenditure has been pegged at Rs 227.4 crore .

Besides, 314 micro watershed projects have been taken up by the Mission in the KBK districts for treatment of 1.67 hectare with an expenditure of Rs 100.57 crore.

Coffee Development Programme (CDP) for small growers has also been taken up under the Mission in Koraput and Rayagada districts.

The programme aims at providing sustainable livelihood to tribal farmers. In the first phase, coffee cultivation was taken up in 2,000 hectares, 1,000 hectares each in the two districts. In the second phase, the programme would be implemented in more than 8,000 hectares with Rs 67.21 crore.

The River Valley Project (RVP) is being implemented in the catchment of inter-state projects, Hirakud, Machhkund- Sileru, Rengali-Mandira and Upper Kolab dam projects to prevent land degradation and prevent silt inflow. The expenditure has been pegged at Rs 4.97 crore.

Anubhuti Bishnoi in Indian Express reports on the progress towards making a 2-lane Ranchi-Vijaywada highway zig-zagging through 1219 kms of Orissa and passing though most of its tribal districts, many of which are naxalite infested. The article has a nice map showing which towns the road will pass through in Orissa. Following are some excerpts from that article. (Thanks to Manoj Sahu in Africa for mentioning this article in Agami Orissa.)

At a recent meeting chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, the Ministry of Shipping, Road Transport and Highways was asked to expedite finalisation of the Detailed Project Report (DPR) for the Vijayawada-Ranchi corridor cutting through Orissa, and take it up on a priority basis. … Around 1,219 km of the 1,729-km corridor planned between Vijayawada and Ranchi will fall in Orissa, and the state government had requested that its state highways, district and rural roads be incorporated in the corridor. Now 235.8 km of national highway sections, 878 km of state high ways and 104.5 km of rural roads will be a part of the corridor. The road from Vijayawada enters Orissa at Motu in Malkangiri district and leaves at Tiring in Mayurbhanj district on the north. … While the Ministry may not call the stretch NH as yet, with the Prime Minister taking a keen interest, it is set to be developed as per national highway standards. What that means is that tribal areas of Koraput, Malkangiri, Rayagada, Gajapati, Ganjam, Kandhamal, Anugul, Sambalpur, Deograh, Keonjhar, Mayurbhanj and Boudh, currently insurgency hotbeds, may emerge out of the hinterlands. Confirming that the project had been put on the fast track, a senior Ministry of Shipping, Road Transport and Highways official said: “The DPR of the corridor is underway and should be ready in six-seven months.”

Note: As mentioned by Digambara a map of the route is at http://tathya.in/story.asp?sno=592. I removed the faulty map that Indian Express printed.

The completion of the (a) Kurdha Rd – Balangir new line, (b) Lanjigarh Rd – Junagarh new line, (c) broad gauge conversion of Naupada Rd and Gunupur and (d) the completion of the Gunupur-Theruvali line will have the following benefits. [Among these, with the current funding level (b) and (c) will be completed in a couple of years. What is needed is a big push to complete (a) and (d) in the next 3-4 years.]

1. Parlakhemundi, the district headquarter of Gajapati will be on Broad gauge rail and will be 305 kms from Bhubaneswar (the state capital). [c]
2. Sonepur, the district HQ of Sonepur district will be on Broad gauge rail and will be 259 kms from Bhubaneswar (the state capital). [a]
3. Boudh, the district HQ of Boudha district will be on Broad gauge and will be 217 kms from Bhubaneswar (the state capital).[a]
4. Nayagarha, the district HQ of Nayagarha district will be on Broad gauge and will be 84 kms from Bhubaneswar (the state capital). [a]
5. Bhawanipatna, the district HQ of Kalahandi district will be on Broad gauge and will be 450 kms from Bhubaneswar via Balangir [a,b] and 504 kms from Bhubaneswar (the state capital) via Gunupur. [b,c,d]
6. Balangir, the district HQ of Balangir district will now be 309 kms from Bhubaneswar instead of the earlier 397 kms. [a]
7. Nawapara Rd, near the district HQ of Nawapara district will now be 459 kms from Bhubaneswar instead of the earlier 547 kms. [a]
8. Rayagada, the district HQ of Rayagada district will now be 419 kms from Bhubaneswar instead of the earlier 502 kms. [c,d]
9. Koraput, the district HQ of Koraput district will now be 573 kms from Bhubaneswar instead of the earlier 676 kms. [c,d]
10. Titlagarh, a major junction will now be 373 kms from Bhubaneswar instead of the earlier 461 kms. [a]

Thus these four lines will connect 5 new district HQs to the broad gauge railways and will significantly reduce the distance between 4 other district HQs and the state capital. That is 8 district HQs would be within half-a-day intercity distance away from the state capital and the 9th one (Koraput) will be within a overnight ride from the state capital. Thus intercity trains between (i) Bhuabneswar and Nawapara Rd (ii) Bhubaneswar and Bhawanipatna and (iii) Bhubaneswar and Rayagada will completely change the psychology of people in districts such as Kalahandi, Rayagada and Nawapara and feel them more connected with the rest of the state. (Currently 2893 leaves Bhubaneswar at 5:45 AM and reaches Balangir at 1:20 PM. Within the same time, with the shortened route it can easily go up to Titlagarh junction and with a little speed up this train will be able to go up to Bhawanipatna or Nawapara Rd.) Similarly a shorter overnight train between Jeypore and Bhubaneswar will make people in Koraput district feel much closer to the rest of the state. (Currently 8448 leaves Koraput at 6:25 PM and reaches Bhubaneswar at 8:30 AM next morning. With a shorter route a train can leave Koraput at 8:30 PM and make it to Bhubaneswar by 8:30 AM next morning.)

Two further extensions of Junagarh-Nawarangpur and Jeypore-Malkangiri will bring two other KBK district HQs to be connected to the broad gauge railways.

Following explains the calculations [orissalinks] :

1. Parlakhemundi-Naupada Rd is 40 kms and Naupada Rd to Bhubaneswar is 265 kms.
2. Sonepur to Khurda Rd is 240 kms and Khurda Rd to Bhubaneswar is 19 kms.
3. Boudha to Khurda Rd is 198 kms and Khurda Rd to Bhubaneswar is 19 kms.
4. Nayagarh to Khurda Rd is 65 kms and Khurda Rd to Bhubaneswar is 19 kms.
5. Bhawanipatna to Lanjiharh Rd is 30 kms, Lanjigarh Rd to Titlagarh is 47 kms, Titlagarh to Balangir is 64 kms, Balangir to Khurda Rd is 290 kms and Khurda Rd to Bhubaneswar is 19 kms. Lanjigarh Rd to Theruvali is 74 kms, Theruvali to Gunupur is estimated to be 45 kms, Gunupur to Naupada rd is 90 kms, and Naupada Rd to Bhubaneswar is 265 kms.
6. Balangir to Khurda Rd is 290 kms and Khurda Rd to Bhubaneswar is 19 kms. Balangir to Sambalpur is 118 kms, Sambalpur to Talcher Rd is 169 kms, Talcher Thermal to Barang is 94 kms and Barang to Bhubaneswar is 16 kms.
7. Nawapara Rd to Titlagarh is 86 kms and Titlagarh to Balangir is 64 kms.
8. Rayagada to Theruvali is 19 kms, Theruvali to Naupada Rd is estimated to be 135 kms and Naupada Rd to Bhubaneswar is 265 kms. Rayagad to Vijainagaram is 124 kms and Vijainagaram to Bhubaneswar is 378 kms.
9. Koraput to Rayagada is 174 kms.
10. Titlagarh to Balangir is 64 kms.