Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik today urged Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh ensure allocation of a sizeable part of the revenues generated from Odisha within the State itself for strengthening and expanding rail infrastructure in the state. On this regard CM Patnaiks wrote letter to the Prime Minister today.
CM Patnaik in his letter said that, “The Central Government have initiated many ambitious projects like dedicated freight corridor aligned with mega industrial hubs, national road expressways and high speed train projects which appear to have completely bypassed the State of Odisha although some of the country's largest investments in the steel, aluminium and power sectors are coming up here.”
Patbaik furher added that, “The volume of investments in the State in diverse sectors at different stages is in excess of a staggering Rs.8,85,000 crores. My Government have taken important steps to create greenfield ports that shall be the country’s gateway to international maritime trade for coastal shipping between the east and west coasts of India. It is expected that the growth in rail borne traffic will be in excess of 300 MMTPA in the next five years. I have been requesting the Ministry of Railways to put in place a time-bound infrastructure upgradation arrangement for the pods coming up on the Odisha coast. A synchronized development plan between those of the ports and related rail connectivity is a necessity for maximizing economic gains. In this context, the eastern dedicated freight corridor from Ludhiana to Dankuni should be extended to Brahmapur so as to ensure seamless movement of freight between the ports and the vast northern and central hinterlands of the country.”
He added that, “There is a large part of Odisha especially the backward regions which have remained untouched by the Railways. The lack of infrastructure has been one of the major reasons which has impeded the socio-economic growth of this region. As you must be aware, these areas are also seriously affected by left wing extremism. I believe that delivering rail services in the naxal affected regions is one of the best means to channelize development therein and provide counter active force. Many of the present industrial clusters have attained a stage of saturation in terms availability of land, water and environmental concerns. Hence, it is imperative that new areas are opened up for development. In this context, the construction of Bhadrachalam Road--Talcher rail link via Malkangiri, Jeypore, Lanjigarh, Sambalpur-Brahmapur new rail link via Phulbani and Rayagada Gopalpur rail link via Bhismagiri assumes importance. Surveys for these lines have been sanctioned and I would request you to advise the Ministry of Railways to execute these projects on a priority basis. These projects should be treated as ‘National Projects'.”
Patnaik also said that, “The State is developing dedicated sector specific Industrial Investment regions with a focused approach on provisioning industrial infrastructure, in the Steel, Aluminum, Coal and Petrochemicals. In the first place Government of Odisha proposes dedicated rail corridors in the Angul-Talcher Coal belt, Basundhara Coal belt in Jharsuguda—Sundargarh and Banspani-Nayagarh iron ore region. These corridors are proposed to be co-habited by multiple users and developed through participative funding. Railway may consider for setting up of SPV for these rail corridors.”
CM Patnaik urged Prime Minister to advise Ministry of Railways for strengthening of rail project execution infrastructure in the State with adequate deployment of officials and staff for time bound implementation of the projects. A brief on the proposed railway package for Odisha for the year 2014-15 containing proposals for new lines, doubling, electrification, gauge conversion, passenger amenities, introduction of new trains etc.
No comments:
Post a Comment