Archive for the 'Railways' Category

Industrialization of the Paradip area and their land requirements

Chemicals, Cuttack - Paradeep, Cuttack-Paradip, Fertilizers, Haridaspur - Paradeep (under constr.), Jagatsinghpur, Jatadhari port (POSCO), Land acquisition, Paradeep port, Paradip - Jatadhari - Kujanga, Petrochemicals, Ports and waterways, POSCO, R & R, REAL ESTATE, Steel 1 Comment »

Following are extracted from a report in the Pioneer.

  • the State Commerce and Transport Department, in its sanction order-29753, dated May 30, 1970, had allotted 3, 793.21 acres in the first phase and 2285.23 acres in the second phase to the Paradip Port Project. Most of the lands were obtained from Sandhakuda, Bijayachandrapur, Balijhari and Bhitaragara villages, under Kujang Tehsil. According to the official sources, about 6,889 acres of land were supplied to the Paradip Port Trust.
  • The State Government had provided 62.19 acres of land to the Paradeep Phosphate Ltd, which is a fertiliser plant that started its project in 1982. The PPL had acquired 405 acres of private lands from Bhitaragada village on its own.
  • … in Paradeep-Cuttack railway line 137 acres of land were acquired from the Bhitaragada village.
  • Kujang Tehsil had about 1,500 acres of Government land in the Musadiha area that was provided to the Oswal Fertiliser Plant in the year 1995-96. The plant had also purchased about 500 acres of private land from the local people.
  • … in 2000 Indian Oil Corporation had purchased 3,300 acres of private land from the local people of 17 villages for its refinery project, which was to be set up on the outskirts of Paradip but the project is yet to come.
  • for much-hyped Haridaspur-Paradip Railway Project, widening of the NH-5 and recent expansion of Cuttack-Paradip State Highway, thousands of acres of both Government and private lands have been acquired from Kujang Tehsil.
  • Essar, the 6 million tonnes steel plant project, moves for the land acquisition in Paradip and the project needs about 1,950 acres of land. The State Government has already given 350 acres of land to the plant. It will procure the remaining required land from private land.
  • Posco has shown a demand of about 4,004 acres of land in Dhinkia, Gadakujang and Nuagaon villages for its steel plant and port project. The State Government has given assurance and has provided Posco most of the encroached Government and forestlands. The rest of the required land would be purchased from private landowners.

MP Rudra Pani raises the issue of Rail connectivity in the parliament: Pragativadi

Angul - Talcher - Sukinda (under constr.), Haridaspur - Paradeep (under constr.), Khurda Rd - Balangir (under constr.), Lanjigarh Rd - Junagarh, Odisha MPs, Railway network in Odisha, Talcher - Bimlagarh (under constr.) Comments Off on MP Rudra Pani raises the issue of Rail connectivity in the parliament: Pragativadi

Samaja op-ed on India Railways neglecting Orissa

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Vani Vihar and Lingaraj Rd stations improved – to be made into suburban stations

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Following is an excerpt from a report in Pioneer.

Focusing on the growing importance of Vani Vihar and Lingaraj Temple Halts as serving satellite stations to the main Bhubaneswar Station, East Coast Railway has provided improved amenities at the station for the benefit of commuters.

The halts have been improved with full length for stoppage of longest trains, improved waiting halls, granite benches, pipe water supply, decongested circulating areas and facelift to both the passenger halts. ECoR general manager SS Khurana, accompanied by other high railway officials, inspected these passenger halts on Saturday.

The largest works to be completed in the current financial year are foot over-bridge at Lingaraj halt, elevating passenger halt level from rail level to high level at Vani Vihar, extension of high-level platform at Lingaraj and providing an ATM counter at both halts.

New Indian express also reports on this with the headline: “Passenger halts to be upgraded to suburban stations.”

Pioneer on Railways’ apathy towards Orissa

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Following is the Pioneer report on this.

The Centre’s stepmotherly attitude towards the cause of Orissa is clearly evident in the railway sector. While the State contributes significantly to the revenue of Railways, the railway route length spread across Orissa is a mere 2,495 km with an average of 15.03 km per 1,000 square km as against the national average of 19 km and much less than the average in the contiguous States.

During 2003-2004 and 2004-05 with respect to the working expenses as a part of gross earnings, the top two profitable railway zones were the South East Central (62.8 percentage and 56.1 percentage) and the East Coast Railways (66.64 percentage and 61.75 percentage). A big part of the profit of the East Coast Railways comes from transporting minerals from various mines in the tribal areas of Orissa.

Despite this, on an average during the last 16 years beginning from 1992-93, the State has received a paltry of Rs 254 crore per annum only. As a whole during the last 16 years, the State has received only Rs 4,070 crore.

While in 1992-93 it had received Rs 68.48 crore, the State received Rs 107.61 crore in 1993-94. Similarly the State received Rs 93.62 crore in 94-95, Rs 149.24 crore in 95-96, Rs 80.29 crore in 96-97, Rs 158.73 crore in 97-98, Rs 254.74 in 98-99, Rs243.74 crore in 99-2000, Rs 239.19 crore in 2000-01, Rs 178.66 in 2001-2002, Rs 194 crore in 2002-03, Rs 306 crore in 2003-04, Rs 360.98 crore in 2004-05, Rs 374.51 crore in 2005-06, Rs 653.90 crore in 2006-07 and Rs 606.51 crore in 2007-08.

Criticising the Ministry of Railways apathetic attitude towards the State, Speaker of Orissa Legislative Assembly Maheswar Mohanty said the Centre had been consistently ignoring the demands of the State in the railway sector for the last several years. “While preparing the Railway Budget, the Centre should take the revenue contribution and economic condition of the State as a criteria rather than taking population into account,” he said.

BJP State president Suresh Pujari has also criticised the Centre’s funding pattern to the State in railway sector.

It may be noted that East Coast Railway that was made functional from April 1, 2003 with three divisions namely, Khurda Road, Sambalpur and Waltair, has a lowest operating cost in the entire country. However, expansion of jurisdiction of East Coast Railways has become a necessity in light of the recent industrial projects coming up in Orissa for ensuring better coordination and facilitation of bulk customers.

In its memorandum which will be submitted to the Prime Minister and Railway Minister, the House Committee of the Orissa Assembly has urged the Ministry of Railways to either extend the jurisdiction of Sambalpur division to include Jharsuguda-Barsuan-Kiriburu, Rourkela-Nuagaon, Jharsuguda-Himgiri or to create a new division with headquarters either at Rourkela or Jharsuguda with its jurisdiction.

Likewise, the jurisdiction of East Coast Railways may be extended to include Bansapani-Padapahar section and Bhadrak-Laxmanath Road section.

Since Independence, only three broad gauge rail links namely, Talcher- Sambalpur, (174 km), Koraput-Rayagada (164 km) and Daitari-Banspani BG rail link have been commissioned. Projects like Lanjigarh Road- Junagarh sanctioned in the year 1993-94 have not been commissioned due to inadequate allotment of funds.

Orissa shortsighted in its Railway requests

Bhubaneswar- Cuttack- Puri, HRD-n-EDUCATION (details at orissalinks.com), Marquee Institutions: existing and upcoming, Railways, Rourkela- Kansbahal, Universities: existing and upcoming Comments Off on Orissa shortsighted in its Railway requests

Following is an excerpt from Pioneer, which mentions what Orissa has requested.

The House Committee of the State Legislative Assembly would soon submit a memorandum to the Union Ministry of Railways demanding Rs 1,000 crore in the Railway Budget for 2008-09. In this connection, a delegation lead by Assembly Speaker Maheswar Mohanty would visit New Delhi on a possible date between November 10 to 17.

During their visit they would meet the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Railway Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav and submit the memorandum. The House Committee in its meeting on Monday approved the final draft of the memorandum. It may be noted that during 2006-07, the State demanded Rs 785 crore.

In its memorandum, the committee also recommends increase in allotment for ongoing projects, sanction of new railway lines, survey, and introduction of new trains, completion of sanctioned projects, electrification and doubling of lines.

For the expansion of Haridaspur-Paradeep (82 km) line, the committee demands Rs 150 crore to ensure expeditious completion of works. The Ministry of Railways has also been requested to allot Rs 100 crore for the Lanjigarh Road-Junagarha (56 km) line and ensure commissioning of the section between Lanjigarh to Bhawanipatna by December, 2008.

The Committee in its memorandum also demanded an allotment of Rs 100 crore for the Khurda Road-Bolangir (289 km) line and also of commissioning the section from 0-36 km.

On the Angul-Duburi-Sukinda road (90 km) project, the land acquisition process is yet to commence. The Ministry of Railways has been requested to allot Rs 50 crore for the project, the Committee said in its memorandum.

For the Talcher-Bimalagarh (154 km), the Committee demanded an allotment of Rs 50 crore for 2008-09. On the Daitari- Banspani Rail Link Project (155 km), the committee in its memorandum says the BG (Broad Gauge) rail link was commissioned in February,2007. However, residual works will have to be completed. The Ministry of Railways has been requested to allocate Rs 50 crore for this project. It also urged the Railway Ministry to take up gauge conversion works for Rupsa-Bangiriposi and Nuapada-Gunpur railway link.

In its memorandum, the committee also urged the Rail Ministry to start new lines connecting Jeypor-Malknagiri, Bargarha-Nuapda via Padamapur, conversion and extension of Nuapada-Gunupur BG raillink to Theruvali, Jaleswar-Digha, Puri-Konark, Talcher-Gopalpur, Rupsa-Bangiriposi to Gorumahisani, Badampahar to Keonjhar, Berhampur to Phulbani.

The Committee in its memorandum also urged the Ministry to take up survey works in Gopalpur-Rayagada, Jajpur-Keonjhar Road-Jajpur, Sambalpur-Berhampur, Bolangir-Nawapara, Bansapani to Bimalgarh, Lanjhigarha to Boudha via Charichhaka.

It also urged the Railway Ministry to take steps for doubling of the Sambalpur-Talcher BG Rail link, Daitari-Bansapani. The Ministry has also been requested to sanction electrification for Daitari-Banspani BG rail link, Haridaspur-Paradeep BG Rail link, Talcher- Sambalpur BG rail link and Sambalpur, Jharsuguda BG rail link.

I think Orissa is being very shortsighted in its requests. Let me elaborate on this. (See also http://www.orissalinks.com/orissagrowth/?p=529 and http://www.orissalinks.com/orissagrowth/?p=489 for more data points on this.)

1. The total IR budget in 2006-07 was 23,475 crores and in 2007-08 (1st year of 11th Five yr plan) total Ir budget was 31,000 crores. IR is planning to have a 251,000 crore budget for the 11th Five year plan.

2. In that context Orissa asked for 800 crores in 2006-07 and 830 crores in 2007-08.
The above news report says that we are asking 1000 crores for next year.

3. Based on (1), 220,000 crores will be the total IR budget for the next 4 years and next years budget would probably be 45,000-50,000 crores; almost double that of 2006-07. Thus we should at least ask for double of what we asked in 2006-07. I.e., we should ask for 1600 crores.

4. The Pioneer article has the laundry list of things that we want, and it adds up only to 1000 crores. So we have to be imaginative in what we ask. In this we must note that a big part of the 11th plan IR budget goes towards

(a) two freight corridors (neither passing through Orissa)

(b) high speed rail corridors (none passing through Orissa) and

(c) several metro rails (none in Orissa).
In addition we must note what can be sold to the PM and Rail M. (For example: Rail connectivity to KBK, adivasi areas and naxal areas can be sold if the CM makes a case for them. If every other metro area is going to have metro rail, we can at least sell commuter/sub-urban rail. Similarly, big rail stations like Vizag, which are not in the first list of world class stations, will try to be in the next list; so we must sell Rourkela to be in the next list of world class stations. etc.)
5. Hence, following are my suggestions that we should add:

(i) We should send a 1 year proposal as well as a 4-5 year proposal. The 4-5 year proposal will match the 11th five year plan. The 4-5 year proposal should mention clearly that by the end of year 4-5, the following lines should all be completed.
** Khurda-Balangir
** Gunupur-Theruvali
** Lanjigarh Rd – Bhawanipatna – Junagarh – Nabarangpur- Jeypore – Malkangiri – Bhadrachalam Rd (Andhra Pradesh)
** Talcher – Bimlagarh
** Bangiriposi -Gurumahishasini and/or Buramara-Chakulia.
**
Badampahar-Keonjhar
in addition to the port connectivity lines of
** Haridaspur – Paradip
** Talcher – Sukinda Rd
** Bhadrakh Dhamara
and the tourism/education connectivity lines of
** Jaleswar – Digha
** Puri-Vedanta U – Konark

Its very important to get a commitment with respect to what should be done with respect to Orissa in the 11th plan.

(ii) We must ask for a rail factory, or two, possibly in PPP mode, to be established in a backward region of Orissa. (Last year they approved 2 in Bihar, one in Rae Bareli and one in Kerala)
(iii) Establishment of suburban-Rail infrastructure around Bhubaneswar with MEMUs and appropriate stations in the Bhubaneswar area to help the commuters without creating jams. The infrastructure is to encompass the following lines.

* Bhubaneswar-Khurda Rd – Puri – Vedanta U – Konark (Past Puri would be new)
* Bhubaneswar – Barang – Naraj-Dhenkanal (exists)
* Bhubaneswar-KhurdaRd – Khurda-Nayagarh (part of Khurda-Balangir)
* Bhubaneswar-Cuttack-Paradeep (exists)
* Bhubaneswar-Khurda Rd – Balugaon-Berhampur (exists)
* Bhubaneswar-Cuttack-Jajpur Rd-Bhadrakh (exists)
* Bhubaneswar-Cuttack-Jakhapura-Daitari (exists)
* Bhubaneswar-Naraj-Salagaon (exists)
* Bhubaneswar-Khurda Rd – Khurda-Banki-Naraj (Khurda-Naraj will be new and will create a loop)

(iv) Include Rourkela in the next round of world class stations.
Finally, if the Orissa house is sending a delegation to the PM and Rail M; they should also visit the planning commission and ask for IIT and two central universities (KBK Central U and upgradation of Ravenshaw University.)

Proposed world class station in Barang to have 40 platforms: Samaja

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World class railway station in Barang: Sambada

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Slow progress of Indian Railways in Orissa: Dharitri

CENTER & ODISHA, ECOR, SER 2 Comments »

A similar article appeared as an op-ed in Samaja about a month back.
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Baripada superfast train to have chair cars: Samaja

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Lack of progress in Keonjhar on passenger service introduction: Samaja

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Lanjigarh-Bhawanipatna rail segment almost finished: Dharitri

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Orissa Society of the Americas writes about KBK Rail Connectivity to the CM and PM: Various reports

APPEAL to readers, Balangir, CENTER & ODISHA, Gajapati, Kalahandi, Kandhamala, KBK Plus district cluster, Khordha, Malkangiri, Nabarangpur, Nuapada, Odisha and Center, Planning Commission and Odisha, Railways, Rayagada, Sonepur Comments Off on Orissa Society of the Americas writes about KBK Rail Connectivity to the CM and PM: Various reports

This has been reported in Tathya.in, Kalinga Times, and Odisha.in so far. Odisha. in has the two letters.

We appeal to the readers with interest in Orissa to contact their local organization (Outside Orissa, the local Orissa/Oriya/Kalinga organization) and through them send a similar letter to the PM and CM at the earliest. The planning commission has been asked by the PM on September 14th to make the location decisions in two months. So time is running out on this.

Southern Splendour Express covering tourist spots in Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Orissa

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Following is an excerpt from Newkerala.com on this.

He said the Government would put on tracks ‘Southern Splendour express’ covering most of the tourist spots in Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Orissa at a cost of Rs 40 crore, for which the Railway Ministry had approved.

An excerpt from Zeenews is as follows:

Palace on wheels a special train for tourism would be taken up with a total outlay of Rs 40 crores connecting Tamil Nadu, Orissa and Andhra Pradesh, Reddy said and added orders were placed for 19 bogies for this purpose.

Railway board Chair’s meeting with Orissa officials

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The Chairperson of the Railway board, in Bhubaneswar for the Railways athletic meet, met various Orissa government officials. Following are excerpts from various newspapers report on the meeting.

Statesman:

The state government would provide land for the proposed general stores depot of the east coast railway at Mancheswar.

The proposal was taken in a meeting between the chief minister Mr Naveen Patnaik and the railway board chairman Mr KC Jena here today. It is hoped that this particular endeavour would assist the small entrepreneurs to a great extent.

The state government has also promised to provide land for beautification of the entrance to the Bhubaneswar railway station.

Mr KC Jena informed the chief minister Mr Naveen Patnaik that a survey is being conducted for running of passenger trains on the Daitari- Banspani route and the certificate of the commissioner for railway safety is being awaited.

Issues pertaining to the development of the railways in the state like expediting of the important railway projects of the state, increasing the allocation, setting up of special purpose vehicles for Haridaspur-Paradeep and Angul-Sukinda railway projects and passenger amenities were the topics discussed in the meeting.

The establishment of a world-class station at Baranga also formed a part of the discussion. The chief secretary Mr Ajit Tripathy of the east coast railway, the general manager Mr SS Khurana, the secretary to chief minister Mr BK Patnaik, the commerce and transport secretary Mr P Patnaik were present in the meeting.

Pioneer:

During the meeting, discussions were also held for speedy implementation of the Khurda Road-Bolangir new broad gauge rail link and Lanjigarha Road-Junagarh rail link project.

The Government also urged the Railway Board chairman to expedite the Bargarha-Nawapara Road -via- Padmapur railway link, Jeypore-Malkangiri railway connection, extensions of Nuapada- Gunupur broad gauge rail link to Theruvali and formation of a special vehicle for the Angul-Dubri-Sukinda Road broad gauge rail link project.

The State Government also took up the issue to introduce more pantry cars on passenger trains. The Government also urged the Railway Board chairman to introduce more AC coaches in the Tapswini and Puri-Raipur Express.

Prior to the meeting, Sambada had published the following as the agenda of what Orissa government will discuss with Mr. Jena.

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Naveen urges equitable growth and correction of regional imbalance

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Following is a big excerpt from a Telegraph report.

Naveen Patnaik today insisted on the correction of regional imbalance in the country.

“National integration cannot be complete unless there is equitable growth,” he said, while participating in the deliberations of the sub-committee of National Integration Council at New Delhi today.

Historically, the eastern region has not been able to develop as fast as some of the other regions of the country. Enormous resources are required to improve the infrastructure of this region in the form of roads, railways, ports and power.

Without such infrastructure this region cannot attract the kind of investment that would be required for a holistic growth of the national economy, argued Patnaik.

“This may ultimately lead to marginalisation of these regions which would be detrimental to national integration,” he said.

The committee accepted his suggestion and agreed to include this as an agenda of the meeting of the National Integration Council that is going to take place shortly. Naveen also observed that it is equally important to develop human resource of the backward region for the people of those areas to reap the benefits of economic growth. He stressed the need for enrichment of the social capital of the states.

“The country should be prepared to invest in education, including technical education, health, sanitation and governance with special emphasis on the eastern region of the country,” he said.

Patnaik further offered to host the meeting of the Eastern Zonal Council at Bhubaneswar, which was accepted by Union home minister Shivraj Patil, who chaired the meeting today.

Puri-Ahmedabad express becomes four days a week

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As per newkerala.com:

The 2843/2844 Puri-Ahmedabad-Puri Express (via Khurda Rd-Vijainagaram- Rayagada) will now run four days in a week from October five next. According to East Coast Railways (ECoR), the train would leave from Puri every Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday from October 5.

Tathya.in’s take on Lalu’s statement on next year’s rail budget

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Following is tathya.in’s take on this.

Finally it is Lalu Prasad Yadav giving waking up call to the sleeping states.

The Union Railways Minister him self has announced that he will present an “unprecedented and astonishing” rail budget for 2008-09.

He on 25 September said at Motihari, while addressing a gathering.

“The thrust will be on further expanding the network in the country”, said he.

So he has in fact drawn the attention of the Chief Ministers of the various states having poor railways infrastructure to rise to the occasion and grab the opportunity offered by the Ministry of Railways.

Never in the past, the Minister of Railways announced before hand that the forthcoming budget will be “unprecedented”.

Reading his mind an insider in the Railway Board said that Mr.Prasad is in a mood to dole out large chunk of investments to the less developed states.

Obviously Orissa has a big chance to grab the opportunity, said he.

So without wasting time the state should take a cue from the hints given by Mr.Prasad, said the insider.

And fortunately the Railway Board Chairman K C Jena belongs to Orissa.

In this scenario asking for an “unprecedented amount of investment for the state will be justified”, said the source.

“If any body has a close look at the demands of Orissa, it hovered around Rs.600 crore per annum.

“With this amount of investment in railway sector, the state will have to wait for another three decades to come up to a level”, said he.

In a realistic assessment the state needs investment at least Rs.3000 crores per annum for at least 10 years to connect its hinter land with the main areas”, revealed an expert in railways.

“Will the chief Minister take a note of the hint given by Mr.Prasad and demand accordingly”, said he.

Now it is time for the all party assembly committee on railways to demand more for the rail projects, which needs immediate funding.

And the list is unending as because the investment level has remained at an abysmally low level because of the laid back attitude of the state government coupled with the callous mentality of the Centre.

Lalu open to rail network expansion; Will Orissa make its demands in time?

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The railway minister Lalu Yadav has recently hinted that he is ready for rail network expansion. Following are excerpts from an Economic Times article about it. (Thanks to Rajesh Toppo for the pointer.)

Promising the next rail budget to be unprecedented and astonishing, Railway Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav on Tuesday said its thrust will be on further expanding the network in the country.

“The next budget for the Railways will be unprecedented and astonishing. We want to further expand the network in the country and reach such people who have not yet got the opportunity to use its service,” Prasad said while addressing a gathering here after flagging off a new train between Motihari and Varanasi.

Describing the Railways as the country’s “lifeline”, he said, “Though India has the largest rail network in the world, we want to take it to the people who are not yet reached.”

From the above it seems Lalu is open to rail network expansion to hinterlands. But unless Orissa makes its demands in time, they may lose out on this.

The mirage of Talcher-Bimlagarh line

Angul, ECOR, Railways, Sundergarh 2 Comments »

Following are excerpts from an article in Pioneer written by Susim C Sahani.

Susim C Sahani | Sundargarh

Despite decade-old debates and agitations, the most sought-after Bimlagarh-Talcher rail link is still a distant dream for this tribal-dominated district. However, if the railway project sees the light of the day, it can help reduce the distance between Bhubaneswar and Rourkela from 180 km to 150 km besides providing the most viable transport links to the potential mines zone in the district to the port in Paradip.

The rail-link project has been eluding the locals here since 1955. With the inception of Rourkela Steel Plant, a 75-km-long rail route was set up linking Rourkela to Barsuan for the iron ore mines in Bonaigarh sub-division. The tribals, inhabiting the villages all along this rail route, have been deprived of passenger train facilities although the iron-loaded goods trains have stoppages at stations like Roxy and Bimlagarh. In what seems to be an imitation of a common sight in Bihar and Jharkhand, the tribals here too board the iron-ore loaded wagons of the freight trains. If the goods train tragedy a year-and-half ago that killed over 20 persons on this route, including an eight-year-old tribal boy, is any indication, then tribals travelling this way is likely to cause more fatal accidents in the coming days.

Sources said the Hindustan Steel Limited (HSL), now rechristened as Steel Authority of India (SAIL), in collaboration with Germany, had conducted an aerial survey for the Rourkela Steel Plant and the German experts then had strongly recommended the Bimlagarh-Talcher rail-link project, linking Rourkela with Paradip Port via Talcher. The rail-route was also expected to make mineral transportation more economical by direct rail links to the key mining zones of the State with Paradip Port and to the mines of Ranchi and Bokaro.

Unfortunately, due to the feeble leadership in Orissa, former Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru could not be convinced about the utility of such a promising project. …

Delay in Naupada-Gunupur broad gauge conversion: Dharitri

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Problems with the survey of Jaleswar-Digha line: Samaja

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Status of Khurda Rd – Balangir project

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Following is a big excerpt from Pioneer on this. (The detailed route and the various proposed stations can be found in this map.)

The inordinate delay in the construction of the Khurda – Balangir railway line has triggered severe public resentment, with people blaming the Centre for, deliberately, deferring the project.

Paucity of funds and delay in land acquisition are said to be the main factors that mar the speedy implementation of the project.

The 339 km long Khurda – Balangir railway line was sanctioned in 1994-95 and had raised the hopes of the people living in this perennially backward and neglected district. The line, which was supposed to run through Nayagarh, Phulbani, Boudh and Sonepur was expected to provide an impetus to the growth of the district.

The estimated cost of the project was Rs 354 crore initially but now the cost has escalated to Rs700 crore. As many as 17 railway stations, 441 bridges, 11 tunnels and 126 level-crossings were to be constructed as part of the project.

The Railway Ministry made a budgetary allocation of Rs15.38 crore in 2004-05 for the project and has this year earmarked Rs 10 crore, following which work on a 22-km stretch from Khurda was undertaken.

But no public representative of the area is happy with the pace of the project. Phulbani MP Sugriba Singh had also raised the issue in the Parliament sometime ago. Singh had also written a letter to Railway Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav, alleging that even one-tenth of the project’s total budget had not been released so far.