___________

Following is an excerpt from a New Indian Express report. (The provisional route of this line can be seen in this map.)

The rail link option was mooted during the setting up of Rourkela Steel Plant (then Hindustan Steel Company Ltd). The German experts linked to the steel plant had foreseen the Bimlagarh-Talcher rail link as a corridor between the key rail routes of Howrah and Mumbai besides Howrah and Madras.

The proposed route is likely to reduce distance between Rourkela and Bhubaneswar by almost 180 km. However, alleged lack of political willingness among the leaders of Orissa is to be blamed for the failure, locals said.

The proposed route is also poised to make mineral transportation more economical by establishing direct rail connection to mines of Ranchi, Bokaro and Bhilai besides key mining zones of Orissa with the Paradip port.

After several mass agitations, the project finally got the approval of the Railway Ministry and a provision to release only Rs 10 to Rs 15 crore annually was made. Going by this count, the project estimated to cost around Rs 750 crore, could take five more decades to complete.

The work is to be carried out by the construction wing of East Coast Railway.

Following is the letter I sent to the PM with copy to Orissa CM, MPs, planning commission and chairman of the railway board. Please consider sending a similar letter to them. If possible please fax the letter to the PMO rather than emailing him.

PM’s fax numbers are 23016857 , 23015603 (Delhi STD code is 11)
Lalu’s fax number is 23387333

To: Dr. Manmohan Singh

Prime Minister

India

Cc: Mr. Arjun Singh, Minister of HRD, Government of India

Cc: Mr. Lalu Yadav, Minister of Railways, Government of India

Cc: Mr. Chandrasekhar Sahu, Union Minister of State, Government of India

Cc: Mr. Naveen Patnaik, Chief Minister, Orissa

Cc: Members of Parliament from Orissa

Cc: Media

Subject: KBK and other adivasi areas of Orissa and India can not be left behind while rest of India marches forward with high speed rail; metro rail and freight corridors

Dear Dr. Singh:

First we would like to convey our heartfelt thanks for your recent higher education initiatives that you outlined in the last Independence Day speech; in particular, the announcement regarding 8 new IITs, 7 new IIMs, and 30 new central Universities with 16 of them going to states that do not have any central university. We sincerely hope that in picking the locations for these institutions you will keep in mind that for 60 years no IIT, IIM or central university have been established in Orissa. As a rapidly industrializing state, our highest priority is a new IIT. Following that, since there already exists 23 central universities, and you plan to have 30 more, and Orissa has none yet, our next priority is to have two new central universities in Orissa. We also request that the central university that is proposed to be in the KBK region should have multiple campuses so that it can cover the vast and tribal areas of KBK and because of the very high tribal and backward population in that area this university should be treated at par with the central universities in the north east. Again, we thank you from our heart for your initiatives and thank the HRD minister Mr. Arjun Singh for his role in this.

The above initiatives have restored in us some of the faith that we had earlier lost in your government. Now we would like to point out another burning issue with respect to Orissa that needs to be urgently addressed.

That issue is Rail connectivity to the hinterlands of Orissa, such as the KBK and other tribal districts of Orissa. As you are very well aware these areas are the most backward and poor areas of India; they have a very high tribal population; and are also infested with extremists. One of the important steps in uplifting these areas is making them well connected to the rest of India. That is where Rail Connectivity comes to picture.

As one of the earlier planning commissions has noted

in http://planningcommission.nic.in/plans/stateplan/sdr_orissa/sdr_orich2.doc

“Railways have always played an important role in economic development and rapid social transformation in all parts of the globe. It is one of the key economic infrastructures. However, it is most unfortunate that in a poor and backward state like Orissa, development of rail networks has received much less attention of the Central Government in the post-independence period. There are as many as seven districts like Boudh, Kandhamal, Deogarh, Nayagarh, Kendrapara, Malkangiri and Nabarangpur out of the 30 districts of the state, which do not have any railway line passing through them. In the year 1998-99, the density of railway route length per 1000 sq. km of area in Orissa was only 15.03 km as against 42.66 km in West Bengal and 19.11 km. at all-India level”.

The Railway ministry has grand plans for the 11^th plan period that includes two freight corridors, high speed rail, and metro rail in several areas and it has a budget of Rs 251,000 crores. While none of these high flying plans (2 freight corridors, high speed rail segments and metro rails) are in Orissa, we are not in a position to rue over that; rather we request that while the rest of India marches forward with 2 freight corridors, high speed rail segments and metro rails during the 11^th plan, KBK and other adivasi areas of Orissa and India be not left behind. The particular lines we are referring to are:

1) Khurda – Balangir

2) Gunupur-Theruvali

3) Lanjigarh Rd – Bhawanipatna – Junagarh – Nabarangpur- Jeypore – Malkangiri – Bhadrachalam Rd (Andhra Pradesh)

4) Talcher – Bimlagarh

5) Bangiriposi -Gurumahishasini and/or Buramara-Chakulia.

6) Badampahar-Keonjhar

Often the Railway ministry and Railway board has labeled some of the pending lines in these areas as unprofitable and has given them such a low priority that at the current rate of funding (annual allocation less than the inflation) these lines may never be completed.

While the railways calculation may show these lines as unprofitable; they are not unprofitable if one considers how much Indian Railways earns from these areas. For example, the ECOR GM Shri Surendra Singh Khurana in his Independence Day address (available at http://eastcoastrailway.gov.in/custom/press_release/index.php) while talking about ECOR, said: “With only 4% of the track of Indian Railways, we cater for about 12% of total loading of Indian railway and about 7% of total earning of IR.” In regards to profitability, for the 2003-2004 and 2004-05 the working expense as part of gross earnings of the ECOR zone is the second best at 66.64% and 61.75% respectively. The profit making zones in those years were South east central (62.8% and 56.1%), ECOR (66.64% and 61.75%), North central (76.33% and 66.71%), Central (80.29% and 82.48%), South eastern (81.24% and 83.51%), South Central (85.72% and 83.62%), West Central (80.99% and 84.08%), South Western (91.35% and 86.15%), Western (93.21% and 90.85%), Northern (91.08% and 92.89%) and East Central (93.65% and 98.9%). The loss making zones were: metro Kolkata (247% and 264.38%), North Eastern (151.93% and 160.88%), Northeast Frontier (147.98% and 159.45%), Eastern (161.3% and 152.84%), Southern (118.55% and 120.79%) and North Western ( 106.26% and 104.98%).

So, if the Indian Railway is making 7% of its earning from ECOR and a much higher percent of its profit from ECOR is not it unfair to give only 4% of its track to ECOR? This means profit and revenue from ECOR is being ploughed into rest of India. Nothing wrong with that per se, except that the part of ECOR that is neglected is the most backward part of India, and has a high tribal percentage. Some of these tribals, without proper connectivity, risk their lives and travel on the roof of freight trains. Does India and Indian Railways want to take money and investment away from the tribal and backward areas to enrich its metro residents?

Dr. Singh: Is that the India of your dreams? Is that the equality and inclusiveness that you talk about in your speeches?

We don’t think so!

Perhaps this has not come to your notice. Perhaps your current planning commission has not brought this to your notice. It is our sincere request that you look at this issue and include in the 11^th plan the completion of the earlier mentioned lines and the establishment of a few rail factories in the backward and tribal areas of India, possible 1-2 in the KBK districts.

(Additional data points are in the attached document.)

Sincerely,

Chitta Baral

The ones that are missing in the above are:

• Junagarh-Nabarangpur-Jeypore-Malkangiri-Bhadrachalam Rd (Andhra Pradesh)
• Bangiriposi-Gurumahishasini and/or Buramara-Chakulia.
• Badampahar-Keonjhar

• Haridaspur-Chandikhol(4)-Ratnagiri (14)- Lalitgiri (24) – Bajapara (36)- Kendrapara (43)- Marshaghai Rd (51)-Kalaghara (62)- Nuagaon (68) – Siju (77) –Paradeep (82) (preliminary stage of construction)
• Khurda Rd(0)-Khurda Town(10.8)- Gaurha sahi (34.8)- Rajsunakhala (44)- Dighiri (52.1)- Nayagarh(65.6)- Nuagaon (90.6) – Dasapalla(110.25)- Banigochha (137) – Adhonigarh (154.6) – Manipur (162.5) – Boudh (198)- Jharsumunda (215.3) – Purunapani (230.2) – Sonepur(240.1)- Jhartarbha (265.3)- Bhainsapalli(274.9)-Balangir (preliminary stage of construction)
• Talcher-Budhapanka (0) – Parjang (12.5) – Muktaposi (23.5) – Kamakhyanagar (36.3) – Rangamati (46.26) – Tengaria (55.56) – Bhuban (66.46)- Sukinda (79.76) – Duburi (87.96) – Sukinda Rd (preliminary stage of construction)
• Lanjigarh Rd – Ramchandrapur PH (9.55) – Depur PH (18) – Bhawanipatna (30.8) – Kutrukhamar PH (41.4) – Junagarh (55.4)

Following is from a PIB release.

The Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh has approved funding of the Bogibeel Rail-cum Road Bridge and the Rangia–Murkongselek gauge conversion projects at a cost of Rs1980 crores. Additional Budgetary support will be given to the Railways to complete the projects. A detailed milestone map with target dates is to be prepared for these projects with indication of annual requirement of funds.

The Ministry of Railways will set up a dedicated fund for these projects to ensure timely implementation. The cost overruns will be funded by the Railways from internal resources.

The Prime Minister has directed that a uniform funding pattern, on the same lines, be extended to the remaining five-sanctioned National Projects for the North East Region. A dedicated fund called the “ North East Rail Development Fund” will be set up for the timely completion of these projects. The projects will be completed in five years. The Ministry of Railways will submit a proposal for the approval of the Cabinet.

(1) ECOR GM Shri Surendra Singh Khurana in his Independence Day address (available at http://eastcoastrailway.gov.in/custom/press_release/index.php) while talking about ECOR, said:

 “With only 4% of the track of Indian Railways, we cater for about 12% of total loading of Indian railway and about 7% of total earning of IR.”

(2) From http://finance.groups.yahoo.com/group/irfca/messages

For the 2003-2004 and 2004-05 the working expense as part of gross earnings of the ECOR zone is the second best at 66.64% and 61.75% respectively.

• The profit making zones in those years were
  • South east central (62.8% and 56.1%),
  • ECOR (66.64% and 61.75%),
  • North central (76.33% and 66.71%),
  • Central (80.29% and 82.48%),
  • South eastern (81.24% and 83.51%),
  • South Central (85.72% and 83.62%),
  • West Central (80.99% and 84.08%),
  • South Western (91.35% and 86.15%),
  • Western (93.21% and 90.85%),
  • Northern (91.08% and 92.89%) and
  • East Central (93.65% and 98.9%).

• The loss making zones were:
  • metro Kolkata (247% and 264.38%),
  • North Eastern (151.93% and 160.88%),
  • Northeast Frontier (147.98% and 159.45%),
  • Eastern (161.3% and 152.84%),
  • Southern (118.55% and 120.79%) and
  • North Western ( 106.26% and 104.98%).

(3) Based on (1) and (2) above ECOR probably makes about 10% of Indian Railways profit.

Why does not ECOR have the track length commensurate with the earnings it makes?

Why are no serious efforts being made to correct this; especially with many planned lines being given only minimal annual budgets which in many cases are less than the annual inflation.

In terms of rail density: the average rail density (2004-05) for India is 19.13; the rail density is highest in Delhi (138.2) followed by West Bengal (43.4), Punjab (41.6), Haryana (36.1), Bihar (35.9), Uttar Pradesh (35.8), etc. while Chhatisgarh (8.6) and Orissa (14.6) are among the states with low rail densities.

(6) The data from (1-3) and (5) show that while Indian Railways is making a lot of revenue and profit from ECOR (big part of which is in Orissa) and also SER (part of which is in Orissa), both ECOR and Orissa have been grossly neglected. This is true about the past; what about the future?

Mr V. N. Mathur, Member (Traffic) of the Railway Board is reported to have said:

“We’ve submitted to the Planning Commission a Rs 251,000-crore proposal for implementation by the end of the Eleventh Plan. We’ve indicated mobilisation of Rs 90,000 crore from within and 29 per cent of the projected estimate by way of market borrowing. For the balance, we may have to approach the government for support. But then nothing has yet been finalised.”

 (8) Many expensive and highflying plans by Indian Railways for the 11^th plan, but most bypass Orissa and ECOR.

(8A) Freight Corridor: Various news reports suggest that the 11^th plan (next 5-7 years) will take up the western and eastern corridors.

http://www.indianexpress.com/story/9030.html

Western Corridor: 1,483-km Delhi-Mumbai route

http://www.hindu.com/2006/09/17/stories/2006091708640400.htm reports that the “Chennai-Kolkata and Chennai-Mumbai corridors will be included in the second phase of the Dedicated Freight Corridor Project.” 

(8B) High Speed Corridors:

“Delhi-Chandigarh-Amritsar, Mumbai-Baroda-Ahmedabad, Chennai-Bangalore-Coimbatore and Howrah-Asansol-Patna — were announced in the current rail budget.”

(8C) Metro Rails and rapid transit systems: From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transportation_in_India#Metro   and

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bangalore_Metro

The following are the existing or under construction/expansion metro rail projects.

• Delhi Metro
• Hyderabad Metro
• Kolkata Metro
• Kolkata Suburban Railway
• Lucknow MEMU 
• Chennai Metro
• Mumbai Suburban Railway
• Bangalore Metro
• Mumbai Metro •
• Thane Metro
• In planning:
  • Ahmedabad Metro
  • Kochi Metro
  • Goa
  • Pune

(9) In essence revenue and profit generated in ECOR is being ploughed into other parts of India, which by itself is not wrong as Orissa is a part of India, but lets analyze who are the losers: the adivasi and backward areas of Orissa (and hence of India) who are backward partly because lack of proper connectivity, and this neglect continues to keep them backward and prevents them from catching up.

No, here are the data and following it is what planning commission teams have themselves said.

(10) The tribal population percentage of the KBK districts are as follows:
Malkangiri 58.36% (+19.96% SC), Rayagada 56.04% (+14.28% SC), Nabarangpur 55.27% (+15.09% SC), Koraput 50.67% (+13.41% SC), Nuapada 35.95% (+13.09% SC), Kalahandi 28.88% (+17.01% SC), Sonepur 22.11% (+9.5% SC), Balangir 22.06% (+15.39% SC). Two adjacent districts also have high tribal population. They are Kandhamala 51.51% (+18.21% SC) and Gajapati 47.88% (+8.77% SC).  Tirbal percentage of Mayurbhanj is 57.87% and Sundergarh is 50.74%.

(11) The literacy rates in the KBK districts are abysmally low. Malkangiri 31.26%, Nabarangpur 34.26%, Rayagada 35.61%, Koraput 36.2%, Nuapada 42.29%, Kalahandi 46.2%, Balangir 54.93%, Sonepur 64.07%. Two adjacent districts also have low literacy: Gajapati 41.73% and Kandhamala 52.95%. The state average is 63.1%.

(12) Population below the poverty line in southern Orissa (of which KBK is a part) is reported to be 89.17% of the people according to the 1999-2000 NSS data and 72% of the families according to the 1997 census.

(13) From http://www.mainstreamweekly.net/article174.html

Table 1 provides State level data on poverty ratios during 2004-05. The lowest poverty ratio was 5.4 per cent for Jammu and Kashmir and highest poverty ratio was for Orissa (46.4 per cent). States with poverty ratio of less than 15 per cent were Jammu & Kashmir, Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Delhi and Andhra Pradesh. As against them, States with poverty ratio above 30 per cent were Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Chattisgarh, Uttarakhand and Orissa.

Five States, namely, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Bihar, West Bengal and Orissa accounted for 166 million poor (about 55 per cent of the total poor estimated at 302 million). This shows the high concentration of poor in these five States.

(14) Planning Commission: The Planning Commission in its report comparing the development status of economic infrastructure of Orissa, especially the KBK region, vis-à-vis the country says:

"Railways have always played an important role in economic development and rapid social transformation in all parts of the globe. It is one of the key economic infrastructures. However, it is most unfortunate that in a poor and backward state like Orissa, development of rail networks has received much less attention of the Central Government in the post-independence period. There are as many as seven districts like Boudh, Kandhamal, Deogarh, Nayagarh, Kendrapara, Malkangiri and Nabarangpur out of the 30 districts of the state, which do not have any railway line passing through them. In the year 1998-99, the density of railway route length per 1000 sq. km of area in Orissa was only 15.03 km as against 42.66 km in West Bengal and 19.11 km. at all-India level”.

 (15) What we are asking with respect to KBK and adivasi areas of Orissa?

We are asking the current PM and the current planning commission to pay attention to what the planning commission report says in (15) and the data in (11)-(14).

In particular, we would like the following lines to be completed during the 11^th plan.

1)     Khurda – Balangir (This brings Railways to districts of Boudha, Sonepur and Nayagarh and bring Balangir – a part of KBK- closer to the state capital. This line of 290 km, initially budgeted at 700 crores, has all the necessary studies done, and its survey was complete before May 2004. It should be targeted to be completed within the next 2-3 years.)

2)     Gunupur-Theruvali (The Orissa govt. is ready to use PPP for this. This should also be done in 2-3 years together with the broad gauge conversion of Naupada-Gunupur line)

Lanjigarh Rd – Bhawanipatna – Junagarh – Nabarangpur- Jeypore – Malkangiri – Bhadrachalam Rd in Andhra Pradesh. (The first phase of this Lanjigarh Rd – Junagarh is 56 km with an estimated cost of 120 crores. 15% of it was completed before May 2004. This should be completed immediately within 1-2 years. This line lies completely within the KBK districts and when finished will bring Railways to the districts of Nabarangpur and Malkangiri. Moreover, the Malkangiri-Bhadrachalam Rd part could go through a bit of Chhatisgrah. This line will create a shorter and alternative Ranchi-Hyderabad route and bring connectivity to an area that is currently havited by many extremist groups. Not much has been done beyond Junagarh, so this must be immediately approved and work started so that the line gets completed by the end of the 11^th plan.)

Talcher – Bimlagarh (This is 154 km long and was estimated at Rs 727 crore. This will bring the tribal district of Sundergarh much closer to Orissa, connect a dangling line, and will bring passenger rail to big parts of Sundergarh. This should be completed in 3-4 years.)

(These lines connect dangling lines and will bring passenger rail to big parts of the tribal district of Mayurbhanj. Not much has been done, so this must be immediately approved and work started so that the line gets completed by the end of the 11^th plan.)

Badampahar-Keonjhar (This line also  connecst dangling lines and will bring passenger rail to big parts of the tribal district of Mayurbhanj. Not much has been done, so this must be immediately approved and work started so that the line gets completed by the end of the 11^th plan.)

1. Parlakhemundi, the district headquarter of Gajapati (part of KBK+) will be on Broad gauge rail and will be 305 kms from Bhubaneswar (the state capital).
2. Sonepur, the district HQ of Sonepur district will be on connected by rail and will be 259 kms from Bhubaneswar (the state capital).
3. Boudh, the district HQ of Boudha district will be connected by Rail and will be 217 kms from Bhubaneswar (the state capital).
4. Nayagarha, the district HQ of Nayagarha district will be connected by Rail and will be 84 kms from Bhubaneswar (the state capital).
5. Bhawanipatna, the district HQ of Kalahandi district (part of KBK) will be connected by Rail and will be 450 kms from Bhubaneswar via Balangir and 504 kms from Bhubaneswar (the state capital) via Gunupur.
6. Malkangiri, the district HQ of Malkangiri district (part of KBK) will  be connected by Rail.
7. Nabrangpur, the district HQ of Nabrangpur district (part of KBK) will be connected by Rail.
8. Balangir, the district HQ of Balangir district will now be 309 kms from Bhubaneswar instead of the earlier 397 kms.
9. Nawapara Rd, near the district HQ of Nawapara district will now be 459 kms from Bhubaneswar instead of the earlier 547 kms.
10. Rayagada, the district HQ of Rayagada district will now be 419 kms from Bhubaneswar instead of the earlier 502 kms.
11. Koraput, the district HQ of Koraput district will now be 573 kms from Bhubaneswar instead of the earlier 676 kms.
12. Titlagarh, a major junction will now be 373 kms from Bhubaneswar instead of the earlier 461 kms.
13. There will be an alternate shorter path from Ranchi to Hyderabad via Titlagarh-Bhawanipatna-Nabrangpur-Jeypore-Malkangiri-Bhadrachalam Rd

(17) Is the Indian railway under the UPA government neglecting Orissa than the previous government?

(18) In the 2004 railway budget given at http://pib.nic.in/release/release.asp?relid=869 (items 35,37) the then Railway Minister Nitish Kumar had proposed the Remote Area Rail Sampark Yojana which aimed to complete lines like Khurda-Balangir within the next 5 years. This has been completely sidelined by the UPA government. This is what he said.

(18 A) Following is the exact wording, in items 35 and 37 of the 2004 Railway budget.

    * 35. Railways have a large shelf of over 230 projects worth about Rs. 43,000 cr, for construction of New Lines, Gauge Conversion, Doubling, Electrification and Metropolitan Transport Projects. Even with the enhanced budgetary support, non-budgetary initiatives under National Rail Vikas Yojana and other cost sharing mechanisms apart from Defence funding of some projects of strategic importance, there will still be projects valuing Rs. 20,000 cr which would remain unfinished even after the next five years. A large number of these have been sanctioned on socio economic considerations with the intention of connecting remote and backward areas with the rail network. However their progress is very slow on account of inadequate funding, which causes dissatisfaction. Connecting these areas with the rail network will facilitate the economic and social development of these areas and will provide major employment opportunities during construction and thereafter. Keeping these factors in mind, it has been decided to speed up the execution and completion of these projects also in the next five years. I am happy to inform the House that this would be done through an ambitious ‘Remote Area Rail Sampark Yojana’, with an additional outlay of Rs. 20,000 crore.
    *

    * 37. This decision to accelerate the completion of all projects in five years is expected, on a broad estimate, to provide yearly employment to about 3 lakh persons during the construction period. Once opened for traffic, these lines would also require about 18000 persons per year for normal maintenance and operations, on incremental basis. Apart from this, it is expected that there will be scope for indirect employment of nearly 55000 persons per year. The ‘Remote Area Rail Sampark Yojana’ will go a long way in changing the economic and social scenario of the remote and backward regions of the country and bringing the people of these areas into the mainstream. Further, the demand for steel, cement, rolling stock, fittings, components, plant and machinery will also be generated, boosting the economic growth of the entire country.

(18 B) World Bank:

http://info.worldbank.org/etools/docs/library/240060/India%20%20financing%20infrastructure%20-%20addressing%20constraints%20and%20challenges.pdf
June 2006 report (page 70 above Table A8)

The second project envisaged by the railways was announced in the interim Budget of 2004- 05 and is called Remote Area Rail Sampark Yojana (RARSY). This involves executing and completing hitherto sanctioned projects related to connecting remote and backward areas with the rail network till 2010. The total investments in these projects is valued at Rs.200 billion. Presumably this is to be entirely funded by budget
support.

(18 C)   http://164.100.24.208/ls/CommitteeR/Railways/16th-Report.pdf
Railway Standing Committee Report 2005-06

Page 19:

3.11 In response to the concern of the Committee as to why the completion targets of the projects are not being fixed, the Chairman, Railway Board stated as under:-

"most of these projects will not be completed in the next few years. In fact, the projects where target has not been given is because normally we give targets for projects which are going to be over in the next two to three years.  But where it is going to be a distant period and where we do not know as to how much funds would be allocated for these projects, we do not give targets for those projects. So, wherever targets are given these are the projects which will take more than two to three years to get completed depending on how much funds are given. On our part, we have tried to revive the CapitalFund to see that we can put in more money.

3.12 In the absence of adequate internal generation of revenues by the Railways,
the following projects has been declared by the Government as the national Projects in the National interest. The funding for these projects are ensured by the Central Exchequer in the form of additional Budgetary Support to the Railways.

(18 D) Summing up this point:

In summary, based on earlier planning commission report as excerpted in (14) the 2004 Rail budget had the scheme RARSY which would have completed KBK connectivity lines like Khurda-Blangir. But the UPA government has buried that plan and has talked about burdening the state government for these lines, which since they can not afford, basically means abandoning these lines. This approach needs to be reversed and while India and Indian Railway marches ahead it must not forget the backward and adivasi areas of India and Orissa; especially when it makes money from transporting freight (minerals) from these areas.

(19.5) While the above are finished during the 11^th plan, we will patiently wait for the 12^th plan

• for the 2^nd phase of freight corridor involving Howrah-Chennai that will pass through Orissa;
• for high speed rail between Howrah-Bhubaneswar-Visakhapatnam, Visakhapatnam-Hyderabad, and Visakhapatnam-Chennai;
• for a metro rail for greater Bhubaneswar; and
• additional lines such as Jaleshwar-Digha, Berhampur-Phulbani, Bargarh-Nawapara Road and Talcher-Berhampur.

Following is from a PIB.

The Ministry of Railways has decided to constitute a Core Group for monitoring of Public Private Partnership (PPP) projects related to development of World Class Railway Stations including New Delhi Railway Station. The Committee will set up clear timeframe for each of the 22 railway stations, which will be upgraded to world-class stations. The Group will take stock of the progress and also devise a format for compiling a monthly progress report. The move will give further flip to the modernization activities aimed at improving passenger amenities.

The Group will review and strengthen other related departments of Railway Board to enable them to deliver results as per the targets laid down for PPP projects. The Group will also formulate a list of preparatory activities to be completed by the Zonal Railways before any station is taken up for developing as a world class and this would include the dedicated organizational set-up that needs to be created with in the Zonal Railways for this purpose.

Earlier, in a move to make Indian Railways world’s number one Railway network, the Committee on Infrastructure approved the proposal for completing the first phase of modernization of the New Delhi railway station into a world-class station through Public Private Partnership before the Commonwealth Games, 2010. In addition to New Delhi, the other stations would be developed as world class stations are: Agra, Ahmedabad, Amritsar, Anand Vihar, Bangalore, Bhopal, Bhubaneshwar, Bijwasan, Chandigarh, Chennai, Mumbai CST, Howrah, Jaipur, Lucknow, Mathura, Patna, Pune, Secunderabad, Thiruvananthapuram, Varanasi and Gaya.

The Core Group will consist of high-ranking officials of Railway Board. These are; Member (Engineering), Additional Member (Commercial), Adviser (Infrastructure) and Adviser (Finance). Adviser (Land and Amenities) will function as the Convener of the Committee.

The following is reproduced verbatim from Tathya.in with its permission.

Bhubaneswar:20/August/2007
Known as an open minded Railways top notch, Surendra Singh Khurana quietly dropped a bomb shell on the Independence Day.

The East Coast Railways (ECOR) General Manager (GM) pointing out the strength of Zone said that “With only 4 per cent of the track of Indian Railways (IR), we cater for about 12 per cent of total loading and we earn 7 per cent of the total earnings of IR”.

Being part of the Railway establishment there is not much more that he can say to indirectly point out the unfairness of Indian Railways towards ECOR and the State of Orissa and parts of Chhatisgarh and Andhra Pradesh that is covered by ECOR.

However the incompetent Orissa leadership did not able to take ECOR GM’s hint – Orissa and its tribal areas continue to suffer, thanks to the apathy of the IR authorities.

The people of Orissa are doubly unfortunate that on top of this level of unfairness of Indian Railways, it also has an incompetent leadership and a callous bureaucracy which can not take such an obvious hint.

Mr.Khurana set an agenda to make a coherent argument and take it to the Prime minister, Railway minister and the Planning Commission and convince them that IR must spend the same percentage, if not more, of its revenue that it gets from ECOR, in the areas covered by ECOR.

This is inexplicable in the current environment where the PM seems to be open to such logic, as shown by his pronouncements regarding central universities in each state that does not have one and other recent HRD initiatives.

The argument for spending more than the revenue percentage is multi-fold: long term past neglect by the IR of the ECOR areas, especially KBK and adjacent districts in Andhra Pradesh and Chhatisgarh; backwardness of these areas; the high tribal population of these areas; and need for rapid development in these areas so as to prevent then from further slipping into the Maoist folds.

All the Orissa government, its MPs and its bureaucrats have done in the past is to make some empty noises around the time of the Railway budget, which predictably gets cowed down by all other states making similar noises, and then they forget about it to slip into slumber.

Considering that ECOR among the top profitable railway zones it might as well be the case that close to 10 per cent of the total profit of IR comes from ECOR.

In 2003-2004 and 2004-05 the working expense as part of gross earnings of the ECOR zone is the second best at 66.64 per cent and 61.75 per cent respectively.

In the 2004 Railway budget the then Railway minister Nitish Kumar had proposed the Remote Area Rail Sampark Yojana which aimed to complete lines like Khurda-Balangir to be completed within the next 5 years.

Now this plan has been completely derailed by the present UPA government.

The Railways while making its big plans for freight corridors to be taken up in Eleventh Plan, high-speed rail and metros, it seems that the ECOR areas are completely forgotten.

The Prime Minister in his speeches and the UPA in its manifesto talk about even development across India and especially development of tribal etcetera, the ground action is exactly opposite.

The Planning Commission members as well as teams that visit KBK talk about the importance of Rail connectivity to raise these areas out of backwardness, why is it that the Indian Railways (especially under UPA), has completely forgotten about the backward and tribal areas of ECOR.

The Central government putting onerous conditions (such as 50 per cent match by the state) on development of lines such as the KBK related lines (and similar lines in ECOR areas of Chhatisgarh) when it knows very well that those states do not have the ability for the matching fund?

Does the central government want that districts like KBK should remain inaccessible and thus poor and backward for ages?

Does the central government want that these areas should slip further and further into the hands of the extremists?

Now it is the high time for Railways, being the largest employers of the world should establish a production unit in the tribal area (such as KBK) where it can more easily employ more tribals and thus help them in a bigger way.

But alas! Who will take up the issues?

Almost everybody those who matters are busy in their own game pushing plan and the ECOR finds it self in funds crunch for taking up long pending projects of the areas.

Are you listening the Chief Minister ?

Excerpts from http://eastcoastrailway.gov.in/custom/press_release/index.php.

INDIAN RAILWAYS PLAY VITAL ROLE IN SOCIO-ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT OF THE COUNTRY : KHURANA

Bhubaneswar, August 16, 2007

“Indian Railways since its beginning in 1853, has always played a pivotal role in the socio-economic development of the country and has been truly the life line of the nation” stated Shri Surendra Singh Khurana, General Manager, East Coast Railway, …

… East Coast Railway is no exception and since its inception in 2003, has been a major factor in the socio-economic development of the three states which it serves. We have 2521.30 route kms. of track that criss-cross the three states of the country on which more than 245 trains ply daily, carrying more than 1.5 lakh passengers and hauling nearly 0.23 million tones of freight. With only 4% of the track of Indian Railways, we cater for about 12% of total loading of Indian railway and about 7% of total earning of IR.

Appreciating the encouraging performance of East Coast Railway, Shri Khurana said “As far as revenue loading is concerned, we have loaded 29.49 MT upto July ’07 as compared to 26.87 MT done last year with a growth of 9.75%. In originating passengers, we have carried 19.46 million passengers as compared to 17.01 millions carried last year with an improvement of 14.42 %. Our originating passenger earnings to the end of July’07 have been Rs. 17.91 crores which is 20.17% higher than last year’s achievement. Similarly our originating goods earnings to the end of July ’07 has been Rs. 1524.92 crores which is 17.96% more as compared the last year’s achievement. The year 2007-08 has been declared as the Cleanliness Year by the Hon’ble MR. For proper maintenance of stations, a detailed procedure with pinpointed responsibility of the various officials has already been formulated. Adequate powers have been delegated to the DRMs, PHoDs and other officials connected with various cleanliness activities. Special campaigns are being launched to ensure cleanliness and hygiene at station premises, in passenger trains, railway lines, waiting rooms etc”.

Highlighting the various Passenger Amenity works in ECoR General Manager Shri Khurana told “Total 58 PRS locations are already functioning on East Coast Railway. One more PRS will be commissioned shortly at Jajpur town. UTSs have already been commissioned at 23 stations. Further, UTSs at 187 stations have been sanctioned during 2007-08. MoU with various banks have been signed for setting up of 47 ATMs at various stations over East Coast Railway. IVRS facilities are already available at 13 locations and are at various stages of progress at 09 locations.

Shri Khurana also stated that “During 2007-08, new project of doubling between Titlagarh-Raipur has been sanctioned. Similarly survey for Sambalpur-Talcher doubling and Khurda Road doubling has been sanctioned in 2007-08 budget. Railway Electrification works on branch lines of Cuttack-Paradeep and Talcher Colliery sidings will be commissioned during this year”.
INDEPENDENCE DAY MESSAGE

Bhubaneswar, August 15, 2007

On the occasion of our 61st Independence Day, I extend my hearty wishes to all Railway men & women and their families.Independence Day is an occasion to rejoice in our freedom and to pay collective homage to all those great heroes who sacrificed their lives to help us achieve independence. Let me first of all salute those great champions of Indian War of Independence, who for the sake of freeing our motherland from slavery, sacrificed their lives.  Since then India has marched ahead in all fields and is one of the fastest growing economies in the world in the last decade.

Indian Railways since its humble beginning in 1853, has always played a significant role in the social and economic development of the country and has been truly the life line of the nation. East Coast Railway is no exception and since its inception in 2003, has been a major factor in the socio economic development of the 3 states which it serves. We have  2521.63 route kms of track that criss-cross the three states of the union on which more than 245 trains ply daily, carrying more than 15 lakh passengers and hauling nearly 0.23 Million tonnes of freight. With only 4% of track of Indian Railway, we cater for about 12% of total loading of Indian Railway and about 7% of total earning of Indian Railway.

The performance for the first 4 months of this year has been quite encouraging with respect to last year’s actuals and we have achieved more than the previous year’s actual both in passenger as well as freight. I congratulate all Officers & staff of East Coast Railway for achieving an upward trend in all important parameters of Railway’s working.

As far as revenue loading is concerned, we have loaded 29.49 MT up to July’07 as compared to 26.87 MT done last year with a growth of 9.75%. In originating passengers, we have carried 19.46 million passengers as compared to 17.01 millions carried last year with an improvement of 14.42%. Our originating passenger earning to end of July’07 has been Rs.170.91 crores which is 20.17% higher than last year’s achievement. Similarly, our originating goods earnings to end of July’07 has been Rs.1524.92 crores which is 17.96% more as compared the last year’s achievement. This achievement is quite significant considering that in May loading was affected in KK line for 10 days due to disruption in power supply by CSEB. There are number of instances, during April to June, where extremists have removed rail from track, blasting of track, blasting of power supply towers, blasting of engine, removal of fish plate, etc. However, most of these performances fall short when we compare with the budget proportion till July’07. All these indicate that we have to really work very hard and find out alternative sources and  innovative ideas to optimize the loading potential and transportation to achieve the high targets fixed. At the same time we need to focus on capacity creation by  completing  the ongoing traffic facility and throughput enhancement works on a war footing.

The year 2007-08 has been declared as the Cleanliness Year by the Hon’ble MR. For proper maintenance of stations, a detailed procedure with pinpointed responsibility of the various officials has already been formulated. Adequate powers have been delegated to the DRMs, PHoDs and other officials connected with various cleanliness activities. Special campaigns are being launched to ensure cleanliness and hygiene at station premises, in passenger trains, railway lines, waiting rooms, etc. In order to supplement our efforts, display advertisements are being  given in leading newspapers to create awareness in cleanliness and social hygiene amongst traveling public. At the same time, local FM radio channels and local TV channels have been used  to transmit cleanliness advertisements to sensitize the Rail users. Contracts for clean train station, mechanized cleaning and rag picking relating to cleanliness activities are already in operation at some stations and at some other stations, these are under progress. I would urge all of you to put in sustained efforts so that needed improvement in the cleanliness of our stations as desired by the Hon’ble MR is achieved and we set up such standards in cleanliness worth emulating by other railways

Last year face lift for 15 stations were sanctioned under “touch & feel” items and most of the works have been  completed barring a few which are targeted to be completed by Dec’07. Similarly, for 2007-08, we have identified 15 more stations for a complete face lift including passenger amenity items under touch & feel scheme. These stations are Khurda Road, Jajpur-Keonjhar Road, Palasa, Balugaon, Talcher (Khurda Road division). Koraput, Parvathipuram, Bobbili, Simhachalam, Chipurpalli(Waltair Division), Mahasamund, Bargarh Road, Khariar Road, Muniguda & Bagbahara (Sambalpur Division).

A number of modern passenger amenity items have been completed and some more have been initiated to meet the needs of the passengers and public. A total of 58 PRS locations are already functioning on East Coast Railway.  One more PRS will be commissioned shortly at Jajpur-Keonjhar Road. At 23 stations UTSs have already been commissioned. Further, UTSs at 187 stations have been sanctioned during 2007-08. MoU with various banks have been signed for setting up of 47 ATMs at various stations over East Coast Railway. IVRS facility  is already available at 13 locations and are at various stages of progress at 09 locations. Auto-announcement-cum-Answering system are  existing at 19 locations and are in progress at 9 other locations. Internet booking is existing at Visakhapatnam, Bhubaneswar & Cuttack. Computerization of complaints is existing at six locations and one at Sambalpur is in progress. National train enquiry system is functioning at 10 locations and four more at Parvatipuram, Duvvadda, Simhachalam & Koraput are in progress. Similarly, touch screen terminals have been provided at two locations and at 11 locations the work is in progress.

This year East Coast Railway has been assigned to run two new trains viz. Bhubaneswar-Rameswaram Exp. (Weekly) & Bhubaneswar-Ranchi (Garib Rath Exp)-  (3 days in a week). At the same time  there is increase in frequency of  Puri-Ahmedabad Exp. from three days to four days in a week and Hatia-Yaswantpur from weekly to two days in a week. We have already included these changes in the new time table and would be able to run as soon as the rakes arrive.

Safety & security of passengers should be one of our prime focus. In recent past, the threat from anti-social elements, have alarmed us to be more careful in handling the transportation of passengers and goods, so that public will feel safe to travel by train. Action is on hand to provide suitable measures at important stations to avoid such menace.

East Coast region of India is witnessing an industrial upsurge with many industries being set up or proposed to be set up in the near future. It is understood about 46 MoUs have been signed by Govt. of Orissa with various companies/industries/Agencies for setting up of a number of industries.  A number of new ports are likely to be made functional within East Coast territory. To meet the burgeoning demand for transportation of people & freight in the region, ECoR has geared up its machinery  for the early completion of many of the new lines, doubling, gauge conversion  and traffic facility works. RRI at Visakhapatnam, Bhubaneswar Yard remodelling, Talcher-Modification of station yard, Cuttack-Improvement to goods terminal facilities, Mandira Hasaud-Development of goods terminal facilities, Lakholi-2nd loop along with simultaneous reception and despatch facility, Deogaon-3rd running line with universal mode of simultaneous reception and despatch facilities, Visakhapatnam-Gopalapatnam Route relay interlocking & automatic signalling and Hindol Road-Development of ballast siding as standard common siding have been commissioned and a number of works are in various stages of progress.

During 2007-08, new project of doubling between Titlagarh-Raipur has been sanctioned. Similarly survey for Sambalpur-Talcher doubling and Khurda Road-Puri doubling has been sanctioned in 2007-08 budget. Railway Electrification works on branch lines of Cuttack-Paradeep and Talcher Colliery sidings will be commissioned during this year. The work of electrification between Daitari-Banspani and Haridaspur-Paradeep has been mentioned in the 2007-08 budget speech. All this will not only increase the much needed line capacity for East Coast Railway but also will help in the economic development of the region.

The Carriage Repair workshop, the only workshop in East Coast Railway, has been  performing excellently over the years. Up to June’07, the workshop has turned out 106 coaches as compared to 96 coaches achieved during the corresponding period of last year.

Since productivity is directly linked to a satisfied and motivated workforce, we are committed to win the hearts of our employees by carrying out several staff amenity works. Community halls are being be built at Brahmapur, Bhubaneswar, Bhadrak, Vizianagaram, Araku, Sambalpur & Titlagarh. Zonal Central Hospital at Mancheswar has been made functional and specialized Doctors of various disciplines have been in position. Proposal has been sent to Railway Board to make three important hospitals at Bhubneswar as referral hospitals for East Coast Railway. 15 costly medical equipments have been provided in various health units/hospitals. Major surgery ward has been made functional at Central Hospital.

Our organized labour unions are also part & parcel of Railway’s functioning. Their responsibility is directly reflected in the performance of the Railway. I am sure this harmonious relation between management and labour unions will continue to make East Coast Railway progress fast in its aim to be the best zonal railway in terms of productivity.

We should not be content with our present laurels. Action should be initiated to achieve future goals. Lots of investments in various projects are going on for increasing our loading and consequential earnings thereof. All out efforts should be made to divert road traffic to rail by offering them attractive discount schemes.

Whatever we have achieved is not sufficient; let us not  rest. We should move further to achieve excellence in our field of activities. Let us dedicate ourselves for the overall growth of East Coast Railway.

I once again convey my best wishes to all Railway men & women and their families and join you all in saluting those men & women who sacrificed their present for the comfort of future young generation.

JAI HIND.

( S. S. KHURANA)
GENERAL MANAGER

Pioneer reports on this. Following are some excerpts.

… general manager Surendra Singh Khurana said that with only four per cent of the track of Indian Railways, ECoR caters about 12 per cent of total loading of the Indian Railways and about seven per cent of its total earnings.

He said, “As far as loading is concerned, we have loaded 29.49 MT up to July in comparison to 26.87 MT done the last year with a growth of 9.75 per cent. In originating passengers, we have carried 19.46 million passengers compared to 17.01 million carried last year with an improvement of 14.42 per cent.”

“Our originating passenger earnings to the end of July 2007 have been Rs 17.91 crore, which is 20.17 per cent higher than last year’s. Similarly, our originating goods earnings to the end of July amount to Rs 1, 524.92 crore, which is 17.96 per cent more compared the last year’s.”

Khurana also stated that in 2007-08, the new project of doubling of Titlagarh-Raipur track has been sanctioned. Similarly, the survey for Sambalpur-Talcher and Khurda Road doublings has been sanctioned in the 2007-08 budget.

Following is a from a PIB based on a Rajya Sabha answer.

Thirty railway stations have been identified for modernization under modernication scheme on the ECOR during 2006-07 and 2007-08.  These are:

g)                   Improved seating arrangements, etc.
This information was given by the Minister of State for Railways Shri R.Velu in written reply to a question in the Rajya Sabha today.

The Statesman reported that

Priority will now be given on modernisation of stations and other passenger amenities, said Mr. Surendra Singh Khurana, general manager, East Coast Railway.

During his recent visit to stations like Bhubaneswar, Khurda Road, Berhampur, Mr. Khurana informed that the air-conditioning of booking office and PRS complex in Berhampur station will be completed soon and added that necessary development to the second class waiting hall will be taken up. A second two wheeler stand shall be constructed to free congestion in the existing stand and a proposal was underway for the construction of a washable apron at Berhampur station, along with development of platform no. 4 with foot over bridge (FOB) and second entry.

Proposals shall be processed for the frontage of Khurda Road including circulating area, more numbers of retiring rooms, VIP room on the second floor of the existing station building, stated Mr. Khurana. Lingaraj temple road station will be updated as a modern sub-urban station. Balugaon station will also be taken up for modernization this year.

An amount of Rs 50 crore has been sanctioned for Khurda Road division for undertaking various developmental works, which includes Rs 12.1 crore for traffic facility works, Rs. 10.4 crore for level crossing and Rs 7.5 crore for passenger amenities, informed Mr. Khurana.

Following is a short report from Telegraph.

Indian Railways has proposed a whopping Rs 251,000 crore investment in the 11th Five Year plan. The draft proposal to this effect has been submitted to the Planning Commission.

V. N. Mathur, member traffic of the Railway Board, said Rs 90,000 crore would come from internal accruals while about 29 per cent would be borrowed, including ECB.

Following is a relevant part from an interview in Hindu Businessline.

What about funding the plans?

We’ve submitted to the Planning Commission a Rs 251,000-crore proposal for implementation by the end of the Eleventh Plan. We’ve indicated mobilisation of Rs 90,000 crore from within and 29 per cent of the projected estimate by way of market borrowing. For the balance, we may have to approach the government for support. But then nothing has yet been finalised.

If the Indian government is going to pay such a huge portion it should insist that IR does not forget the backward areas of India.

Samaja has the following beautiful analysis which enumerates how because Orissa does not have the industries whose products will be used in making the new industrial plants in Orissa, Orissa loses out on lots of additional benefits that go to the already industrialized states. Hence, Orissa not only needs to set up these plants quickly, but also needs to go after the ancillaries with full force.

Following is an excerpt from Dharitri’s report on it.

Hindu reports on this. Following are some excerpts.

A sum of Rs. 2 crores has been sanctioned for the development and modernisation of the Berhampur railway station, Divisional Manager of the East Coast Railways P.K. Srivastav has said. Keeping its colonial architecture intact, work is on to add structures
to the existing station and to beautify it.

Speaking to newsmen, Mr. Srivastav said to expand the station premises, the goods shed by the side of platform number three was shifted to Jagannathpur. A fourth platform would be added in place of the goods shed. The new platform and the continuing work on the second foot overbridge at the railway station were expected to be completed by2008. As per the new plans, the Berhampur railway station would have two entry gates in a bid to reduce rush at the main gate.

Following is a picture of the station that appeared in Today’s Samaja.

Reader R. P. Tripathy sent us the following item. Thanks.

Railway Reservation Facility has been introduced in Phulbani and Sundargarh District Post Offices. Earlier a person from Phulbani used to travel to Berhampur or BBSR for railway reservation and it will be a big respite for those people as the travelling expenses were much higher than the railway ticket itself. http://www.odisha.com/20070801/fullstory/train%20ticket.html