The Pioneer, Sept 6, 2007
Pioneer News Service | Phulbani
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. He demanded immediate release of additional funds to expedite the construction work.
Thursday, September 6, 2007
Khurda-Balangir rail line work delay brews resentment
The Pioneer, Sept 6, 2007
Pioneer News Service | Phulbani
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. He demanded immediate release of additional funds to expedite the construction work.
Pioneer News Service | Phulbani
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. He demanded immediate release of additional funds to expedite the construction work.
Tuesday, August 28, 2007
A Letter to PM
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/state plan/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 11th 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 non 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 11th 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 11th 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
133 Kanan Vihar, Phase 2
Bhubaneswar, Orissa
-- Chitta Baral
Professor, Arizona State University
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/state plan/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 11th 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 non 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 11th 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 11th 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
133 Kanan Vihar, Phase 2
Bhubaneswar, Orissa
-- Chitta Baral
Professor, Arizona State University
Friday, August 24, 2007
Kerala, Bengal get 5 rly projects in a day
Business Standard, AUg 24, 2007
LALU TAKES A LEFT TURN...
Saubhadra Chatterji / New Delhi August 24, 2007
The CPI(M) has always helped me. Everything will be sorted out: Lalu
Even as pressure from its Left allies in Parliament mounted over the Indo-US civilian nuclear deal, the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government is making Left Front-ruled states major recipients of its largesse, courtesy the Indian Railways.
On Tuesday, Railway Minister Lalu Prasad promised to address Kerala’s concerns and cleared five projects for West Bengal. Four of these were sanctioned for the eastern state after 15 Left MPs met Lalu Prasad.
Meanwhile, Kerala Chief Minister V S Achuthanandan received assurances from Prasad, whom he met today, for a new rail zone in his state.
“Kerala is my favourite state. The CPI(M) has always helped me. Everything will be sorted out,” Prasad said after his meeting with Achuthanandan.
Kerala has been protesting against reports that a new railway division will be set up in Salem in neighbouring Tamil Nadu, bifurcating the profitable Palakkad railway division, which could result in a serious political setback for the CPI (M) government in Kerala.
Sensing this as an opportunity to get concessions, Achuthanandan did not ask Prasad to cancel the bifurcation but requested a new division, which has significant job-creating potential.
Of the pending projects in West Bengal that have caught Prasad’s attention, at least two have been on the agenda for years.
The biggest and most important of them is the conversion of the circular railway lines at Dumdum airport to a metro rail to facilitate better access to the city’s airport.
Lalu also approved a new train from Kolkata to Jhansi via stations like Barrackpore, Kanpur and Meerut.
“The idea is to connect all those places associated with the 1857 mutiny and Mangal Pandey in India’s 60th anniversary of Independence. Prasad has given in-principle approval,” said Basudev Acharya, leader of the CPI (M) in Parliament.
A few days ago, the Railway Ministry had agreed to start an overnight express train connecting West Bengal’s far-flung district headquarters of Balurghat with Kolkata.
While Prasad’s Budget speech in the peaceful month of February offered three trains to Bengal, the nuclear crisis has given the state two new trains.
This apart, an important gauge-conversion project between Krishnanagar and Nabadwip, awaiting clearance for years, got priority in Tuesday’s meeting.
Prasad has also given assurances on ways in which unauthorised hawkers, a Left vote-bank, could be licensed after the Calcutta High Court had banned their entry in rail stations.
West Bengal has been a major recipient of UPA largesse in the past month. Recently, Steel Authority of India Ltd (SAIL) approved the proposal to re-open the iron works plant at Kulti in Bardhaman district that had been closed during the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) regime.
Even here, the government accepted the Left’s demand that it should be taken over by SAIL instead of a private party.
LALU TAKES A LEFT TURN...
Saubhadra Chatterji / New Delhi August 24, 2007
The CPI(M) has always helped me. Everything will be sorted out: Lalu
Even as pressure from its Left allies in Parliament mounted over the Indo-US civilian nuclear deal, the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government is making Left Front-ruled states major recipients of its largesse, courtesy the Indian Railways.
On Tuesday, Railway Minister Lalu Prasad promised to address Kerala’s concerns and cleared five projects for West Bengal. Four of these were sanctioned for the eastern state after 15 Left MPs met Lalu Prasad.
Meanwhile, Kerala Chief Minister V S Achuthanandan received assurances from Prasad, whom he met today, for a new rail zone in his state.
“Kerala is my favourite state. The CPI(M) has always helped me. Everything will be sorted out,” Prasad said after his meeting with Achuthanandan.
Kerala has been protesting against reports that a new railway division will be set up in Salem in neighbouring Tamil Nadu, bifurcating the profitable Palakkad railway division, which could result in a serious political setback for the CPI (M) government in Kerala.
Sensing this as an opportunity to get concessions, Achuthanandan did not ask Prasad to cancel the bifurcation but requested a new division, which has significant job-creating potential.
Of the pending projects in West Bengal that have caught Prasad’s attention, at least two have been on the agenda for years.
The biggest and most important of them is the conversion of the circular railway lines at Dumdum airport to a metro rail to facilitate better access to the city’s airport.
Lalu also approved a new train from Kolkata to Jhansi via stations like Barrackpore, Kanpur and Meerut.
“The idea is to connect all those places associated with the 1857 mutiny and Mangal Pandey in India’s 60th anniversary of Independence. Prasad has given in-principle approval,” said Basudev Acharya, leader of the CPI (M) in Parliament.
A few days ago, the Railway Ministry had agreed to start an overnight express train connecting West Bengal’s far-flung district headquarters of Balurghat with Kolkata.
While Prasad’s Budget speech in the peaceful month of February offered three trains to Bengal, the nuclear crisis has given the state two new trains.
This apart, an important gauge-conversion project between Krishnanagar and Nabadwip, awaiting clearance for years, got priority in Tuesday’s meeting.
Prasad has also given assurances on ways in which unauthorised hawkers, a Left vote-bank, could be licensed after the Calcutta High Court had banned their entry in rail stations.
West Bengal has been a major recipient of UPA largesse in the past month. Recently, Steel Authority of India Ltd (SAIL) approved the proposal to re-open the iron works plant at Kulti in Bardhaman district that had been closed during the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) regime.
Even here, the government accepted the Left’s demand that it should be taken over by SAIL instead of a private party.
Thursday, August 23, 2007
PM APPROVES FUNDING OF RAILWAY PROJECTS IN THE NORTH EAST
PIB, Aug 23, 2007
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.
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.
Indian Railways must give ECOR and Orissa its fair share
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
(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.
Read more on this here.....
(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.
Read more on this here.....
Monday, August 20, 2007
NROs demand more investment in railway sector in Orissa
Odisha.in, Aug 21, 2007
In letters addressed to the Chief Minister and the M.P.s from Orissa, Dr. Baral and Dr Patra stated "Communication is biggest hurdle for all round developments in Orissa and specially KBK and other tribal regions in Orissa.
By By our Special Correspondent
Bhubaneswar, August 20 (Odisha.in) Some prominent non resident Oriyas on Monday demanded more central government funds towards development of railway sector in Orissa.
Dr. Chitta Baral, Professor Arizona State University and Dr. Digambar Patra, Visiting Lecturer (Department of Physics, Waseda University, Tokyo), Japan have urged upon Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik and all the Members of Parliament from the state to press upon the Union Government to ensure adequate investment in the railway sector in the state, particularly in the K-B-K districts to effect development of communication which would ultimately resulted in all round development of the State.
In separate letters addressed to the Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik and the M.P.s from Orissa, Dr. Baral and Dr Patra stated "Communication is biggest hurdle for all round developments in Orissa and specially KBK and other tribal regions in Orissa.
It is largely becoming difficult for the state administrator to monitor developmental programme in KBK region from the state capital.
Poor connectivity from the state capital to other region is also making of KBK and other tribal pockets in the state to totally depend on Visakhapatnam and Raipur for commerce and business for which the state is losing huge amount of money as tax as the money earned in the state is finally spent in the neighboring states ."
" With only four per cent of the track of Indian Railways, East Coast Railway caters about 12 per cent of total loading of the Indian Railways and about seven per cent of its total earnings , but the profit made in Orissa is finally diverted to loss making zones like Kolkata metro."
The recent high-speed corridor, also known as bullet train proposal by central government, comprises four routes and is estimated to cost about Rs 25,000 crore for each route.
If there was no politics, one could understand commercial point of views of Mumbai-Ahemadabad, Chennai – Bangalore routes in this proposal, but Kolkata-Bhubaneswar should have priority over Kolkata – Patna route for the bullet
train proposal.
The N.R.O.s alleged ," it is clear that there was a foul play by our central leadership while selecting the high speed corridor in the following routes. (i) Delhi-Chandigarh-Amritsar (PM's home state route like IISER), (ii) Mumbai-Baroda-Ahmedabad (Congress CM desmukh's home state route like IISER), (iii) Chennai-Bangalore-Coimbatore (UPA allianace Karunanidhi's home state and FM home state route like IIIT), (iv) Howrah-Asansol-Patna (Railway minsiter's home state route and UPA alliance CPI-CPM home state route like IISER).
Additionally, there is also a plan of Rs 251,000 crores to be spent during the 11th plan by Indian Railway . Orissa has been neglected and ignored since past decades on railway budgets and many of the railway projects in Orissa are hanging since decades.
Before the central government again cheats Orissa in 11th plan railway bidget, I would like to request you to kindly bring railway connectivity in KBK to the central government, prime minister, railway minister and parliament for needful action so that the following routes, specially railway routes in KBK and other tribal regions of Orissa, are completed on a first priority basis.
(A) Khurda – Balangir; (B) Gunupur-Theruvali; (C) Lanjigarh Rd – Bhawanipatna – Junagarh – Nabarangpur- Jeypore – Malkangiri; (D) Talcher – Bimlagarh; (E) Bangiriposi (Mayurbhanj tribal Dist)-Gurumahishasini and/or Buramara-Chakulia; (F) Badampahar-Keonjhar.
In letters addressed to the Chief Minister and the M.P.s from Orissa, Dr. Baral and Dr Patra stated "Communication is biggest hurdle for all round developments in Orissa and specially KBK and other tribal regions in Orissa.
By By our Special Correspondent
Bhubaneswar, August 20 (Odisha.in) Some prominent non resident Oriyas on Monday demanded more central government funds towards development of railway sector in Orissa.
Dr. Chitta Baral, Professor Arizona State University and Dr. Digambar Patra, Visiting Lecturer (Department of Physics, Waseda University, Tokyo), Japan have urged upon Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik and all the Members of Parliament from the state to press upon the Union Government to ensure adequate investment in the railway sector in the state, particularly in the K-B-K districts to effect development of communication which would ultimately resulted in all round development of the State.
In separate letters addressed to the Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik and the M.P.s from Orissa, Dr. Baral and Dr Patra stated "Communication is biggest hurdle for all round developments in Orissa and specially KBK and other tribal regions in Orissa.
It is largely becoming difficult for the state administrator to monitor developmental programme in KBK region from the state capital.
Poor connectivity from the state capital to other region is also making of KBK and other tribal pockets in the state to totally depend on Visakhapatnam and Raipur for commerce and business for which the state is losing huge amount of money as tax as the money earned in the state is finally spent in the neighboring states ."
" With only four per cent of the track of Indian Railways, East Coast Railway caters about 12 per cent of total loading of the Indian Railways and about seven per cent of its total earnings , but the profit made in Orissa is finally diverted to loss making zones like Kolkata metro."
The recent high-speed corridor, also known as bullet train proposal by central government, comprises four routes and is estimated to cost about Rs 25,000 crore for each route.
If there was no politics, one could understand commercial point of views of Mumbai-Ahemadabad, Chennai – Bangalore routes in this proposal, but Kolkata-Bhubaneswar should have priority over Kolkata – Patna route for the bullet
train proposal.
The N.R.O.s alleged ," it is clear that there was a foul play by our central leadership while selecting the high speed corridor in the following routes. (i) Delhi-Chandigarh-Amritsar (PM's home state route like IISER), (ii) Mumbai-Baroda-Ahmedabad (Congress CM desmukh's home state route like IISER), (iii) Chennai-Bangalore-Coimbatore (UPA allianace Karunanidhi's home state and FM home state route like IIIT), (iv) Howrah-Asansol-Patna (Railway minsiter's home state route and UPA alliance CPI-CPM home state route like IISER).
Additionally, there is also a plan of Rs 251,000 crores to be spent during the 11th plan by Indian Railway . Orissa has been neglected and ignored since past decades on railway budgets and many of the railway projects in Orissa are hanging since decades.
Before the central government again cheats Orissa in 11th plan railway bidget, I would like to request you to kindly bring railway connectivity in KBK to the central government, prime minister, railway minister and parliament for needful action so that the following routes, specially railway routes in KBK and other tribal regions of Orissa, are completed on a first priority basis.
(A) Khurda – Balangir; (B) Gunupur-Theruvali; (C) Lanjigarh Rd – Bhawanipatna – Junagarh – Nabarangpur- Jeypore – Malkangiri; (D) Talcher – Bimlagarh; (E) Bangiriposi (Mayurbhanj tribal Dist)-Gurumahishasini and/or Buramara-Chakulia; (F) Badampahar-Keonjhar.
Indian Railways ignore ECOR
Tathya.in, Aug 21, 2007
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 ?
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 ?
Political foul play while selecting the high speed corridor routes
The recent high-speed corridor, also known as bullet train proposal by central government, comprises four routes and is estimated to cost about Rs 25,000 crore for each route.
If there was no politics, one could understand commercial point of views of Mumbai-Ahemadabad, Chennai – Bangalore routes in this proposal, but Kolkata-Bhubaneswar should have priority over Kolkata – Patna route in the commercial point of view for the bullet train proposal.
It is clear that there was a foul play by our central leadership while selecting the high speed corridor in the following routes.
(i) Delhi-Chandigarh-Amritsar (PM’s home state route like IISER),
(ii) Mumbai-Baroda-Ahmedabad (Congress ruled home state route like IISER),
(iii) Chennai-Bangalore-Coimbatore (UPA allianace Karunanidhi’s ruled home state and FM's home state route like IIIT),
(iv) Howrah-Asansol-Patna (Railway minsiter’s home state route and UPA alliance CPI-CPM home state route like IISER)
If there was no politics, one could understand commercial point of views of Mumbai-Ahemadabad, Chennai – Bangalore routes in this proposal, but Kolkata-Bhubaneswar should have priority over Kolkata – Patna route in the commercial point of view for the bullet train proposal.
It is clear that there was a foul play by our central leadership while selecting the high speed corridor in the following routes.
(i) Delhi-Chandigarh-Amritsar (PM’s home state route like IISER),
(ii) Mumbai-Baroda-Ahmedabad (Congress ruled home state route like IISER),
(iii) Chennai-Bangalore-Coimbatore (UPA allianace Karunanidhi’s ruled home state and FM's home state route like IIIT),
(iv) Howrah-Asansol-Patna (Railway minsiter’s home state route and UPA alliance CPI-CPM home state route like IISER)
An Open Letter to Orissa CM
To:
Naveen Patnaik
Chief Minister
Government of Orissa
cc: Members of Parliament from Orissa
Subject: Pursuing KBK and tribal area rail connectivity with the planning commission
Dear Esteemed Chief Minister:
As you are aware, the 11th plan is currently being formulated by the planning commission. As part of this plan the Indian Railways is reported [3] to be proposing a plan of Rs 251,000 crores to be spent during that plan.
During the last several years you have been relentlessly pursuing several developmental aspects with respect to the most backward area of India, the KBK region of Orissa, in particular the KBK yojana and the Ranch-Vijaywada highway. Our MPs have also raised the issue of KBK related rail lines, such as the Khurda-Balangir railway line. However, in regards to the railways in KBK, it seems (based on news paper reports) Orissa has been more reactive than proactive. We have often raised the issue only weeks before or after the Railway budget when our voice gets drowned by every other state making similar demands. Also, we often focus on the annual budgets.
I would request that we make a comprehensive case for completion of KBK rail connectivity and connectivity to other tribal areas of Orissa within the coming 5 year period; the 11th plan period. If India Railways is going to spend 251,000 crores in the 11th plan period [3], we must make the case that they spend four to five thousand crores in completing these lines. This will only be about 2% of the total proposed Rail budget for the 11th plan.
(By KBK Rail connectivity and connectivity to other tribal areas of Orissa I mean the following lines:
1 Khurda - Balangir
2 Gunupur-Theruvali
3 Lanjigarh Rd – Bhawanipatna – Junagarh – Nabarangpur- Jeypore – Malkangiri – Bhadrachalam Rd (Andhra Pradesh)
[Creates a shorter and alternative Ranchi-Hyderabad route.]
4 Talcher – Bimlagarh
5 Bangiriposi (Mayurbhanj tribal Dist)-Gurumahishasini and/or Buramara-Chakulia.
6 Badampahar-Keonjhar
While the first three connect to KBK and thus may be of higher priority, the last 3 connect to tribal areas in Sundergarh and Maurbhanj and connect many existing dangling lines that are used to transport minerals but do not have passenger service; forcing tribals to risk their life traveling on roof-tops of freight trains. )
(A) The first argument in this regard is the data that was mentioned by the ECOR GM Shri Surendra Singh Khurana in his Independence Day address [1] few days back. Talking about ECOR, he 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.”
(B) While the above compares the track percentage with total earnings, if one were to compare track percentage with profits, ECOR’s share of Indian Railway profit could be around 10%. This is based on the following data.
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 other profit making zones in those years were
–South east central (62.8% and 56.1%), 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%).
(C) 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.
The data from (A), (B) and (C) 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.
At this juncture, when Indian Railways is planning to spend Rs 251,000 crores [3] during the 11th plan and many of the big ticket items of this plan completely bypass Orissa (for example, the initial freight corridors that are to be built during the 11th plan bypass Orissa; none of the high speed routes that have been mentioned go through Orissa; and among the various metro rail proposals that are under consideration and metro rails that are being built, none are in Orissa), it is imperative that the basic necessities of Orissa and its backward and tribals areas (also the most backward areas of India) are taken care of.
This sentiment is not just wishes of Orissans, but this has been argued by previous planning commissions and eminent researchers like Mr. Bibek Debroy. Following are some excerpts.
(D) 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 the 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."
(E) Similarly in analyzing the 69 backward districts of India Bibek Debroy and Laveesh Bhandari say:
"Rail network is significantly less dense in the backward districts (with the exception of Northern Bihar), and even the parts that are connected may not have frequent trains serving those locations."
The current planning commission has all the data on KBK that they need, but just in case here are some.
(F) 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% .
(G) 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%.
(H) 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.
Finally, please note that in the 2004 railway budget [2] 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.
While one may criticize the 2004 railway budget, and praise the current railway minister Lalu Yadav’s profitable running of the Railways in the last couple of years the questions that beg answers are:
(i) Why is that when ECOR makes 7% of the revenue and almost 10% (or may be more) of the profit of IR it has only 4% of its tracks?
(ii) Why is it that under the above circumstances, the Railways while making its big plans for initial freight corridors (that will be done in the 11th plan), high-speed rail and metros, the ECOR area is completely forgotten.
(iii) Why is it that when the PM in its various speeches and the UPA in its manifesto talks about even development across India, development of tribals etc. the ground action is exactly opposite in case of Indian Railways.
(iv) Why is the central government putting onerous conditions (such as 50% 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?
(v) Why is it that Railways the largest employers of the world are not thinking of establishing a production unit in the tribal area (such as KBK) where it can more easily employ more tribals and thus help them more?
Dear esteemed Chief Minister: We request that you present the above data and ask the esteemed Prime Minister, Railway Minister and Planning Commission these questions and request that during the 11th plan the Indian Railways not only complete the KBK Rail lines (Khurda - Balangir; Gunupur-Theruvali; and Lanjigarh Rd – Bhawanipatna – Junagarh – Nabarangpur- Jeypore – Malkangiri – Bhadrachalam Rd of Andhra Pradesh) and connect the dangling lines in the tribal districts of Sundergarh and Mayurbhanj (Talcher – Bimlagarh; Bangiriposi -Gurumahishasini and/or Buramara-Chakulia; and Badampahar-Keonjhar), but also establish one or two Railway production centers in the KBK and tribal areas of Orissa.
Sincerely,
Chitta Baral,
Professor
Arizona State University
[1] http://eastcoastrailway.gov.in/custom/press_release/index.php
[2] http://pib.nic.in/release/release.asp?relid=869 (items 35,37)
[3] http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2007/07/30/stories/2007073050170600.htm
Naveen Patnaik
Chief Minister
Government of Orissa
cc: Members of Parliament from Orissa
Subject: Pursuing KBK and tribal area rail connectivity with the planning commission
Dear Esteemed Chief Minister:
As you are aware, the 11th plan is currently being formulated by the planning commission. As part of this plan the Indian Railways is reported [3] to be proposing a plan of Rs 251,000 crores to be spent during that plan.
During the last several years you have been relentlessly pursuing several developmental aspects with respect to the most backward area of India, the KBK region of Orissa, in particular the KBK yojana and the Ranch-Vijaywada highway. Our MPs have also raised the issue of KBK related rail lines, such as the Khurda-Balangir railway line. However, in regards to the railways in KBK, it seems (based on news paper reports) Orissa has been more reactive than proactive. We have often raised the issue only weeks before or after the Railway budget when our voice gets drowned by every other state making similar demands. Also, we often focus on the annual budgets.
I would request that we make a comprehensive case for completion of KBK rail connectivity and connectivity to other tribal areas of Orissa within the coming 5 year period; the 11th plan period. If India Railways is going to spend 251,000 crores in the 11th plan period [3], we must make the case that they spend four to five thousand crores in completing these lines. This will only be about 2% of the total proposed Rail budget for the 11th plan.
(By KBK Rail connectivity and connectivity to other tribal areas of Orissa I mean the following lines:
1 Khurda - Balangir
2 Gunupur-Theruvali
3 Lanjigarh Rd – Bhawanipatna – Junagarh – Nabarangpur- Jeypore – Malkangiri – Bhadrachalam Rd (Andhra Pradesh)
[Creates a shorter and alternative Ranchi-Hyderabad route.]
4 Talcher – Bimlagarh
5 Bangiriposi (Mayurbhanj tribal Dist)-Gurumahishasini and/or Buramara-Chakulia.
6 Badampahar-Keonjhar
While the first three connect to KBK and thus may be of higher priority, the last 3 connect to tribal areas in Sundergarh and Maurbhanj and connect many existing dangling lines that are used to transport minerals but do not have passenger service; forcing tribals to risk their life traveling on roof-tops of freight trains. )
(A) The first argument in this regard is the data that was mentioned by the ECOR GM Shri Surendra Singh Khurana in his Independence Day address [1] few days back. Talking about ECOR, he 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.”
(B) While the above compares the track percentage with total earnings, if one were to compare track percentage with profits, ECOR’s share of Indian Railway profit could be around 10%. This is based on the following data.
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 other profit making zones in those years were
–South east central (62.8% and 56.1%), 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%).
(C) 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.
The data from (A), (B) and (C) 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.
At this juncture, when Indian Railways is planning to spend Rs 251,000 crores [3] during the 11th plan and many of the big ticket items of this plan completely bypass Orissa (for example, the initial freight corridors that are to be built during the 11th plan bypass Orissa; none of the high speed routes that have been mentioned go through Orissa; and among the various metro rail proposals that are under consideration and metro rails that are being built, none are in Orissa), it is imperative that the basic necessities of Orissa and its backward and tribals areas (also the most backward areas of India) are taken care of.
This sentiment is not just wishes of Orissans, but this has been argued by previous planning commissions and eminent researchers like Mr. Bibek Debroy. Following are some excerpts.
(D) 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 the 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."
(E) Similarly in analyzing the 69 backward districts of India Bibek Debroy and Laveesh Bhandari say:
"Rail network is significantly less dense in the backward districts (with the exception of Northern Bihar), and even the parts that are connected may not have frequent trains serving those locations."
The current planning commission has all the data on KBK that they need, but just in case here are some.
(F) 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% .
(G) 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%.
(H) 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.
Finally, please note that in the 2004 railway budget [2] 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.
While one may criticize the 2004 railway budget, and praise the current railway minister Lalu Yadav’s profitable running of the Railways in the last couple of years the questions that beg answers are:
(i) Why is that when ECOR makes 7% of the revenue and almost 10% (or may be more) of the profit of IR it has only 4% of its tracks?
(ii) Why is it that under the above circumstances, the Railways while making its big plans for initial freight corridors (that will be done in the 11th plan), high-speed rail and metros, the ECOR area is completely forgotten.
(iii) Why is it that when the PM in its various speeches and the UPA in its manifesto talks about even development across India, development of tribals etc. the ground action is exactly opposite in case of Indian Railways.
(iv) Why is the central government putting onerous conditions (such as 50% 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?
(v) Why is it that Railways the largest employers of the world are not thinking of establishing a production unit in the tribal area (such as KBK) where it can more easily employ more tribals and thus help them more?
Dear esteemed Chief Minister: We request that you present the above data and ask the esteemed Prime Minister, Railway Minister and Planning Commission these questions and request that during the 11th plan the Indian Railways not only complete the KBK Rail lines (Khurda - Balangir; Gunupur-Theruvali; and Lanjigarh Rd – Bhawanipatna – Junagarh – Nabarangpur- Jeypore – Malkangiri – Bhadrachalam Rd of Andhra Pradesh) and connect the dangling lines in the tribal districts of Sundergarh and Mayurbhanj (Talcher – Bimlagarh; Bangiriposi -Gurumahishasini and/or Buramara-Chakulia; and Badampahar-Keonjhar), but also establish one or two Railway production centers in the KBK and tribal areas of Orissa.
Sincerely,
Chitta Baral,
Professor
Arizona State University
[1] http://eastcoastrailway.gov.in/custom/press_release/index.php
[2] http://pib.nic.in/release/release.asp?relid=869 (items 35,37)
[3] http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2007/07/30/stories/2007073050170600.htm
Friday, August 17, 2007
ECoR shares 12% of loading, 7% revenue
The Pioneer, Aug 18, 2007
Pioneer News Service | Bhubaneswar
While unfurling the national flag at the Independence Day function held at the East Coast Railway (ECoR) headquarters at Rail Vihar here, 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.
Pioneer News Service | Bhubaneswar
While unfurling the national flag at the Independence Day function held at the East Coast Railway (ECoR) headquarters at Rail Vihar here, 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.
Thursday, August 16, 2007
Indian Railways: an insignia for national integration or an institution for political disintegration?
Indian Railways, an insignia for national integration
Daily India, Aug 11, 2007
[Comment: Or, does it another institution of Indian political interference?]
New Delhi, Aug 11: Indian Railways, a British legacy passed on to India, continues to expand its network as an insignia for national integration.
The world's largest rail transport network -- 63,000-kilometre long track -- if joined end to end, would encircle the earth one-and-a-half times.
Over 14,000 trains carry more than 14 million passengers daily between the southernmost tip, Kanyakumari to Kashmir in the north, and Gujarat in the west to Nagaland in the northeast.
"As a facility for the masses, it is the lifeline of the people. And it is an insignia for national integration. We have already reached up to Jammu and Udhampur, and we go right up to Kanyakumari and time is not far when we are going to link up Srinagar. The work is on," said I I M S Rana, former Chairman of Indian Railway Board.
The British ran the first train in India on April 16, 1853 when a steam engine puffed through 35 kilometres between Mumbai and Thane.
"The Indian railway system is unique. It is the largest system from any considerations- the number of passengers carried, the number of employees. It is the single largest unit under one management," said Rana.
There were 42 independent rail systems in India at the time of independence that were nationalised into one unit by 1951.
India has since created one mammoth system that is critical to its economy and the billion-odd population.
With low fares and great connectivity, trains are perhaps the only viable long-distance travel solution for the middle-class people.
In a booming Indian economy, the railways alone carry 40 per cent of the total freight traffic. With over 1.6 million employees, it makes for the world's largest commercial or utility employer.
A former senior official, however, said post-independence expansion of the network has barely been able to keep up with the burgeoning volume of traffic.
"Expansion of the network has not been as fast as it was in the pre-independence era. The pace of new line constructions then was roughly three times faster than what it has been after independence. Traffic has roughly become eight to nine times after independence, and this means that the existing assets have been used in a very extensive way," said V.K.Aggarwal, another former Railway Board Chief.
According to Aggarwal, increasing utilisation of the railway network makes all the more sense in an era of carbon credits and environmental concerns, with fuel consumption in rail transport being nine times less than in road transport to move an equivalent load of cargo.
Indian Railways have transcended figures, numbers and have steeped into folklore and culture.
A significant variant of the crowded, ugly coaches are luxury trains operating in Rajasthan, with plush interiors, luxurious restaurants and bars justifying every bit names like 'Palace on Wheels.'
'Toy trains,' with steam engine pulled small-size compartments running over narrow tracks in hilly areas, are another exotic element of the network. The toy train in Darjeeling has made its way to the UNESCO World Heritage List.
Riding on a recent wave of making profits, India's Railway Ministry has launched several modernisation initiatives.
Wi-Fi, web-ticketing and GPS have started dotting Victorian-era stations teeming with massive crowds.
Comment: However, political interference from the ruling party and the concern railway minister in the central Indian government has been a serious concern for Indian Railway (IR) since years.
Majority of the investment in the yearly railway budget inculding for new track suvery & construction, new train routes and trains, various developmental projects and new initiatives etc are always rewarded to the region/state affilicated with concern railway minister, other minister in the central government and state ruled by the partners of the central government by totally neglecting those regions which make Indian railway profitable in actual.
Daily India, Aug 11, 2007
[Comment: Or, does it another institution of Indian political interference?]
New Delhi, Aug 11: Indian Railways, a British legacy passed on to India, continues to expand its network as an insignia for national integration.
The world's largest rail transport network -- 63,000-kilometre long track -- if joined end to end, would encircle the earth one-and-a-half times.
Over 14,000 trains carry more than 14 million passengers daily between the southernmost tip, Kanyakumari to Kashmir in the north, and Gujarat in the west to Nagaland in the northeast.
"As a facility for the masses, it is the lifeline of the people. And it is an insignia for national integration. We have already reached up to Jammu and Udhampur, and we go right up to Kanyakumari and time is not far when we are going to link up Srinagar. The work is on," said I I M S Rana, former Chairman of Indian Railway Board.
The British ran the first train in India on April 16, 1853 when a steam engine puffed through 35 kilometres between Mumbai and Thane.
"The Indian railway system is unique. It is the largest system from any considerations- the number of passengers carried, the number of employees. It is the single largest unit under one management," said Rana.
There were 42 independent rail systems in India at the time of independence that were nationalised into one unit by 1951.
India has since created one mammoth system that is critical to its economy and the billion-odd population.
With low fares and great connectivity, trains are perhaps the only viable long-distance travel solution for the middle-class people.
In a booming Indian economy, the railways alone carry 40 per cent of the total freight traffic. With over 1.6 million employees, it makes for the world's largest commercial or utility employer.
A former senior official, however, said post-independence expansion of the network has barely been able to keep up with the burgeoning volume of traffic.
"Expansion of the network has not been as fast as it was in the pre-independence era. The pace of new line constructions then was roughly three times faster than what it has been after independence. Traffic has roughly become eight to nine times after independence, and this means that the existing assets have been used in a very extensive way," said V.K.Aggarwal, another former Railway Board Chief.
According to Aggarwal, increasing utilisation of the railway network makes all the more sense in an era of carbon credits and environmental concerns, with fuel consumption in rail transport being nine times less than in road transport to move an equivalent load of cargo.
Indian Railways have transcended figures, numbers and have steeped into folklore and culture.
A significant variant of the crowded, ugly coaches are luxury trains operating in Rajasthan, with plush interiors, luxurious restaurants and bars justifying every bit names like 'Palace on Wheels.'
'Toy trains,' with steam engine pulled small-size compartments running over narrow tracks in hilly areas, are another exotic element of the network. The toy train in Darjeeling has made its way to the UNESCO World Heritage List.
Riding on a recent wave of making profits, India's Railway Ministry has launched several modernisation initiatives.
Wi-Fi, web-ticketing and GPS have started dotting Victorian-era stations teeming with massive crowds.
Comment: However, political interference from the ruling party and the concern railway minister in the central Indian government has been a serious concern for Indian Railway (IR) since years.
Majority of the investment in the yearly railway budget inculding for new track suvery & construction, new train routes and trains, various developmental projects and new initiatives etc are always rewarded to the region/state affilicated with concern railway minister, other minister in the central government and state ruled by the partners of the central government by totally neglecting those regions which make Indian railway profitable in actual.
French team to sign MoU for high-speed rail corridor for loss making zones: What about backward & neglected but profit making zone like ECOR?
The Hindu, Aug 11, 2007
New Delhi, Aug. 11 (PTI): An expert team from the French Railway is coming to India for carrying out technical feasibility study of the high-speed rail corridor this month-end.
The team arriving on August 26 would visit some of the proposed sites for the high-speed corridors to prepare a detailed study report suggesting possible measures for going ahead with the project.
If everything goes well, the team is likely to sign an MoU with the government to assist the Indian Railway in the project, a senior Railway Ministry official said.
The high-speed corridor, also known as bullet train proposal, comprises four routes and is estimated to cost about Rs 25,000 crore for each route.
The proposed routes -- Delhi-Chandigarh-Amritsar, Mumbai-Baroda-Ahmedabad, Chennai-Bangalore-Coimbatore and Howrah-Asansol-Patna -- were announced in the current Rail Budget. The corridor aims at reducing the travel time drastically.
Besides carrying out the feasibility study by the French team, the Railways would also form a high-speed commission to expedite the project on a public-private participation basis.
Earlier, a preliminary study was conducted by the RITES for 492-km Mumbai-Ahmedabad route. "However, we need a more detailed study to go ahead with the ambitious Rs 1-lakh crore project," said the official involved with the project.
The French team is expected to provide more detailed inputs focusing on technicalities, financial implication, traffic pattern, funding plan, stakeholders' view, fare structure and other related issues before beginning the work.
"Besides France, we are also seeking help from Japan in the bullet train project," said the official adding, the basic research done by Japan and France in high-speed trains are essential ingredients in the project.
The study on bullet train project is required for the involvement of financial institutions and the industry while the government is for viability gap funding.
Since the corridor is expected to cost about Rs 50 crore per km, state governments and civic bodies have also been approached for sharing the expenditure.
"Many states like Gujarat, Haryana, Karnataka, Punjab have agreed to part-fund the project," said the official.
The Rs 1-lakh crore investment in the bullet train project is over a third of the entire Rs 2.5 lakh crore allocation for the Railways under the 11th Plan
New Delhi, Aug. 11 (PTI): An expert team from the French Railway is coming to India for carrying out technical feasibility study of the high-speed rail corridor this month-end.
The team arriving on August 26 would visit some of the proposed sites for the high-speed corridors to prepare a detailed study report suggesting possible measures for going ahead with the project.
If everything goes well, the team is likely to sign an MoU with the government to assist the Indian Railway in the project, a senior Railway Ministry official said.
The high-speed corridor, also known as bullet train proposal, comprises four routes and is estimated to cost about Rs 25,000 crore for each route.
The proposed routes -- Delhi-Chandigarh-Amritsar, Mumbai-Baroda-Ahmedabad, Chennai-Bangalore-Coimbatore and Howrah-Asansol-Patna -- were announced in the current Rail Budget. The corridor aims at reducing the travel time drastically.
Besides carrying out the feasibility study by the French team, the Railways would also form a high-speed commission to expedite the project on a public-private participation basis.
Earlier, a preliminary study was conducted by the RITES for 492-km Mumbai-Ahmedabad route. "However, we need a more detailed study to go ahead with the ambitious Rs 1-lakh crore project," said the official involved with the project.
The French team is expected to provide more detailed inputs focusing on technicalities, financial implication, traffic pattern, funding plan, stakeholders' view, fare structure and other related issues before beginning the work.
"Besides France, we are also seeking help from Japan in the bullet train project," said the official adding, the basic research done by Japan and France in high-speed trains are essential ingredients in the project.
The study on bullet train project is required for the involvement of financial institutions and the industry while the government is for viability gap funding.
Since the corridor is expected to cost about Rs 50 crore per km, state governments and civic bodies have also been approached for sharing the expenditure.
"Many states like Gujarat, Haryana, Karnataka, Punjab have agreed to part-fund the project," said the official.
The Rs 1-lakh crore investment in the bullet train project is over a third of the entire Rs 2.5 lakh crore allocation for the Railways under the 11th Plan
Railways to invite bids for legal, financial consultancy: How much of that will go to backward region where railway earns majority of its profit?
Project Today, Aug 10, 2007
After technical bids, Indian Railways is planning to invite bids from consultants to provide legal and financial advisory services for its station modernisation plans.
The Railways, however, is yet to decide as to whether a common legal and financial consultancy bid should be invited (for all stations) or whether bids should be invited for each station independently. Initially, the Railways had planned to invite a common tender for legal and technical advice for all station modernisation projects.
The technical bid for New Delhi railway station modernisation has been awarded to Hong Kong-based consulting firm Terry Farrell and Partners and the bids for Patna station modernisation have been invited by the Railway Ministry.
The government is likely to award the New Delhi Railway station modernisation project by December 2007 with an investment of Rs.5,000 crore.
After technical bids, Indian Railways is planning to invite bids from consultants to provide legal and financial advisory services for its station modernisation plans.
The Railways, however, is yet to decide as to whether a common legal and financial consultancy bid should be invited (for all stations) or whether bids should be invited for each station independently. Initially, the Railways had planned to invite a common tender for legal and technical advice for all station modernisation projects.
The technical bid for New Delhi railway station modernisation has been awarded to Hong Kong-based consulting firm Terry Farrell and Partners and the bids for Patna station modernisation have been invited by the Railway Ministry.
The government is likely to award the New Delhi Railway station modernisation project by December 2007 with an investment of Rs.5,000 crore.
Tuesday, August 14, 2007
Leaders call for speeding up work on JKB Rail Project
The Pioneer, Aug 15, 2007
Asit Pattnaik | Keonjhar
The issue of the Jakhapura-Kendujhar-Banspani (JKB) Rail Project has once again come to the fore. The slow progress of the project work and delay in making the existing route under the project passenger worthy has stirred much public resentment as the Keonjhar Citizens' Forum, the East Zone Mine Owners' Association, the Chhotenagpur Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the Barbil Bar Asoociation, the CPI, and several other organisations united to launch a mass agitation.
They demanded for the introduction of passenger trains such as, Puri-Ranchi, Tatanagar -Kendujhar, Rourkela-Kendujhar and Extension of Howrah -Barbil [DMU] to Kendujhar via Banspani and Danguaposi Railway Stations .
JKB Rail Project known to be the most economically viable for connecting the highly rich mines areas to the ports and providing the shortest route to link the eastern and southern parts of Orissa to the northern India has only completed Phase I and the rest Phase II and III are yet to be finished.
Sources said this 155 km-long-project was originally planned in 1970. South Eastern Railways [SER] first started its construction at Banspani with merger funds from the Indian Railways in1990. East Coast Railway (ECOR) after the bifurcation of SER, took the construction works though it failed to utilise the full amount allotted for the project during the tenure of KC Lenka as Railway Minister. By 1993, the SER and ECOR completed work of 56.547 kms up to Kendujhar under Phase I and a small portion of Phase II. The Rail Vikash Nigam Limited [RVNL] finally completed works up to Daitari along with another extended rail line to Tomka (24.39 kms) in Jajpur district totalling to a length of 179.49 kms in three years (2002-06). Meanwhile, the initial projected cost of the route rose from Rs 200 crore to Rs 913.87 crore.
East Coast Railway launched the first trial run of goods train from Nayagarh Railway Station to Daitari Railway Station and since then at least five trains have been plying on an average per day.
Asit Pattnaik | Keonjhar
The issue of the Jakhapura-Kendujhar-Banspani (JKB) Rail Project has once again come to the fore. The slow progress of the project work and delay in making the existing route under the project passenger worthy has stirred much public resentment as the Keonjhar Citizens' Forum, the East Zone Mine Owners' Association, the Chhotenagpur Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the Barbil Bar Asoociation, the CPI, and several other organisations united to launch a mass agitation.
They demanded for the introduction of passenger trains such as, Puri-Ranchi, Tatanagar -Kendujhar, Rourkela-Kendujhar and Extension of Howrah -Barbil [DMU] to Kendujhar via Banspani and Danguaposi Railway Stations .
JKB Rail Project known to be the most economically viable for connecting the highly rich mines areas to the ports and providing the shortest route to link the eastern and southern parts of Orissa to the northern India has only completed Phase I and the rest Phase II and III are yet to be finished.
Sources said this 155 km-long-project was originally planned in 1970. South Eastern Railways [SER] first started its construction at Banspani with merger funds from the Indian Railways in1990. East Coast Railway (ECOR) after the bifurcation of SER, took the construction works though it failed to utilise the full amount allotted for the project during the tenure of KC Lenka as Railway Minister. By 1993, the SER and ECOR completed work of 56.547 kms up to Kendujhar under Phase I and a small portion of Phase II. The Rail Vikash Nigam Limited [RVNL] finally completed works up to Daitari along with another extended rail line to Tomka (24.39 kms) in Jajpur district totalling to a length of 179.49 kms in three years (2002-06). Meanwhile, the initial projected cost of the route rose from Rs 200 crore to Rs 913.87 crore.
East Coast Railway launched the first trial run of goods train from Nayagarh Railway Station to Daitari Railway Station and since then at least five trains have been plying on an average per day.
Monday, August 13, 2007
A Letter to PM and Planning Commission
Dear esteemed planning commission and esteemed prime minister:
Thank you for taking a broader view on higher education for India.
I hope your actions will correct the past imbalances.
I would now like to bring to your notice how Indian Railways in its quest for profit
is forgetting the poor and backward areas of India (except perhaps the home state
of the Rail Minister).
There is a jocular saying in the west: "I owe my success to my first wife. I owe my second
young beautiful wife to my success."
The situation with the Indian Railways under the current Rail Minister is similar. A big part
of the profit that it makes comes from freight transfer from mines most of which are located
in backward areas of Orissa, Chhatisgarh and Jharkhand (the first wife). However, most of the new and
humongous plans that the railways has for the 11th plan bypass these states (I.e., they go to the
second wife.)
For example, the first phase of the freight corridor does not touch these states. Most of the high-speed
corridors that are bandied about do not touch these states. Nor the cities where metro rail is
being talked about are from these states. May be the cities in these states do not yet
need a metro rail.
However, what these states, especially Orissa is asking is to connect its remote and backward
areas to the passenger Rail networks; man of these areas are the area served by zones that make huge
profits by transporting freight from mines in those areas.
Lets go over some data on this:
*****
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 other profit making zones in those years were
–South east central (62.8% and 56.1%), 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%).
The above is illuminating; in some sense the poor and backward tribals and
their land in ECOR is generating profits that is being ploughed into
subsidizing the commuters in metro Kolkata.
****
Interestingly, the 2004 Railway budget by the NDA government http://pib.nic.in/release/release.asp?relid=869
proposed (See items 35 and 37) the "Remote Area Rail Sampark Yojana." This program would have spent Rs 20,000 crores to connect the poor, backward and remote areas of India.
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.
As clear from above this would have had a significant impact on the backward areas of India such as KBK districts of Orissa. Following are some statistics of KBK districts.
•KBK districts are the most backward districts in Orissa as well as India.
–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.
•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)
The previous planning commission
in its report comparing the development status of economic infrastructure of Orissa, especially the KBK region, vis-a-vis the country says:
–"Railways have always played an important role in the 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 th eCentral government in the post-independence period."
But that does concern RM Lalu Yadav. To him only poor people in Bihar (and Amethi and Kerala) matters. Tough luck, if they are in other states.
The following shows how Lalu's railway is sitting on the RARSY.
It talks about involving states. The 2004 railway budget did not mention
asking states to give matching funds.
http://164.100.24.208/ls/CommitteeR/Railways/16th-Report.pdf
Railway Standing Committee Report 2005-06
Page 19:
To bridge this gap and considering the slow progress, projects especially in backward,
underdeveloped and remote areas due to constraint of resources, Government had
announced "Remote Area Rail Sampark Yojana" (RARSY) in the Interim Budget
2004-05 which envisages investment of about Rs.20,000 crore in a period of 5 years
on ongoing projects taken up on socio-economic considerations. However, the funds
for the Yojana are yet to be tied up. Government in has attached priority to
infrastructure development. Keeping this commitment in view, a proposal has
been mooted for creation of Remote Area Rail Infrastructure Fund for financing the
RARSY. If the Government approves the funding of this Yojana, all the ongoing
projects will get completed in five years. The yojana is being processed in
consultation with the Ministry of Finance for approval of the Government duly
identifying the funding sources. A note in this regard is under process in the
Ministry for consideration of Government.
3.10 Giving the details of the new initiatives to address the foregoing funds
constraints, the Chairman, Railway Board stated as under:-
"Over the last few years, certain initiatives have been taken to see how we
will fund over projects so that the pace of adding new lines, gauge
conversion and doubling speeds up. We have introduced funding through
defence for strategic lines. We have got some of the projects declared as
the national projects where the funding is given directly by the Government.
We have also initiated private participation in some cases, we have also
launched the Rail Vikas Nigam Limited which is generating funds through
various sources including the market borrowing. Our need was to generate
about Rs.47,000 crore to take care of the projects on the shelf. Out of this,
we found that we can generate about Rs.12,500 crore or so out of the normal
Budgetary support as per the past trends. We would be generating about
Rs.18,000 crore due to the new initiatives that have been taken in the past
few years. It still leaves us a gap of about Rs.17,000 crore to take care of
the projects which are by and large non-remunerative projects but they are
on the shelf. These are the projects which are connecting distant areas,
backward areas. They were sanctioned on socio-economic considerations
and so many other considerations. Even for the sum of Rs.17,000 crore,
which is our requirement, in the year 2004, in the Interim Budget, a scheme
of Remote Area Rail Sampark Yojana was introduced. We are yet to finsalise
the funding pattern under this scheme. The effort is to involve the State
Government's participation into this scheme as also through other means.
We are yet to give it a final shape."
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 Capital
Fund to see that we can put in more money.
Page 22: Talks about National Projects
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.
============================================================
THE following world bank reports adds to the 2004 RAIL budget in that it says
the central govt. was expected to take care of full funding of
the rail lines to the remote areas.
============================================================
(ii)
http://info.worldbank.org/etools/docs/library/240060/India%20%20financing%20infrastructure%20-%20addressing%20constraints%20and%20challenges.pdf
June 2006 report
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.
page 70 above Table A8
=====================================
Concluding comments: We understand that the NDA 2004 budget
did not quite say where the money for the RARSY was going to come from, and it was
made with an eye to the election.
However, as India moves forward:
* it can not just forget its backward and tribal areas; while Indian Railways makes plans
for freight corridors, bullet trains, and metro rails.
* as the largest employer IR can not just forget making employment centers in its backward and tribal areas,
and focus only on the backyard of its Rail Minister, its alliance Chairperson, and states
ruled by its allies (Kerala)
Being familiar with Orissa, in the context of Orissa, I request that you put some sense into
the Railway leadership (the Rail Minsiter, and the Railway Board) so that they plan to
(a) Finish the KBk connecting lines such as: Khurda-Balangir,
Gunupur-Theruvali, and
Lanjigarh Rd - Bhawanipatna - Junagarh-Nabarangpur-Jeypore-Malkangiri-Bhadrachalam Rd and
(b) establish a job center (like a rail factory) in the backward and tribal KBK region.
sincerely,
Chitta Baral
--
Chitta Baral
Professor, Arizona State University
Thank you for taking a broader view on higher education for India.
I hope your actions will correct the past imbalances.
I would now like to bring to your notice how Indian Railways in its quest for profit
is forgetting the poor and backward areas of India (except perhaps the home state
of the Rail Minister).
There is a jocular saying in the west: "I owe my success to my first wife. I owe my second
young beautiful wife to my success."
The situation with the Indian Railways under the current Rail Minister is similar. A big part
of the profit that it makes comes from freight transfer from mines most of which are located
in backward areas of Orissa, Chhatisgarh and Jharkhand (the first wife). However, most of the new and
humongous plans that the railways has for the 11th plan bypass these states (I.e., they go to the
second wife.)
For example, the first phase of the freight corridor does not touch these states. Most of the high-speed
corridors that are bandied about do not touch these states. Nor the cities where metro rail is
being talked about are from these states. May be the cities in these states do not yet
need a metro rail.
However, what these states, especially Orissa is asking is to connect its remote and backward
areas to the passenger Rail networks; man of these areas are the area served by zones that make huge
profits by transporting freight from mines in those areas.
Lets go over some data on this:
*****
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 other profit making zones in those years were
–South east central (62.8% and 56.1%), 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%).
The above is illuminating; in some sense the poor and backward tribals and
their land in ECOR is generating profits that is being ploughed into
subsidizing the commuters in metro Kolkata.
****
Interestingly, the 2004 Railway budget by the NDA government http://pib.nic.in/release/release.asp?relid=869
proposed (See items 35 and 37) the "Remote Area Rail Sampark Yojana." This program would have spent Rs 20,000 crores to connect the poor, backward and remote areas of India.
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.
As clear from above this would have had a significant impact on the backward areas of India such as KBK districts of Orissa. Following are some statistics of KBK districts.
•KBK districts are the most backward districts in Orissa as well as India.
–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.
•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)
The previous planning commission
in its report comparing the development status of economic infrastructure of Orissa, especially the KBK region, vis-a-vis the country says:
–"Railways have always played an important role in the 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 th eCentral government in the post-independence period."
But that does concern RM Lalu Yadav. To him only poor people in Bihar (and Amethi and Kerala) matters. Tough luck, if they are in other states.
The following shows how Lalu's railway is sitting on the RARSY.
It talks about involving states. The 2004 railway budget did not mention
asking states to give matching funds.
http://164.100.24.208/ls/CommitteeR/Railways/16th-Report.pdf
Railway Standing Committee Report 2005-06
Page 19:
To bridge this gap and considering the slow progress, projects especially in backward,
underdeveloped and remote areas due to constraint of resources, Government had
announced "Remote Area Rail Sampark Yojana" (RARSY) in the Interim Budget
2004-05 which envisages investment of about Rs.20,000 crore in a period of 5 years
on ongoing projects taken up on socio-economic considerations. However, the funds
for the Yojana are yet to be tied up. Government in has attached priority to
infrastructure development. Keeping this commitment in view, a proposal has
been mooted for creation of Remote Area Rail Infrastructure Fund for financing the
RARSY. If the Government approves the funding of this Yojana, all the ongoing
projects will get completed in five years. The yojana is being processed in
consultation with the Ministry of Finance for approval of the Government duly
identifying the funding sources. A note in this regard is under process in the
Ministry for consideration of Government.
3.10 Giving the details of the new initiatives to address the foregoing funds
constraints, the Chairman, Railway Board stated as under:-
"Over the last few years, certain initiatives have been taken to see how we
will fund over projects so that the pace of adding new lines, gauge
conversion and doubling speeds up. We have introduced funding through
defence for strategic lines. We have got some of the projects declared as
the national projects where the funding is given directly by the Government.
We have also initiated private participation in some cases, we have also
launched the Rail Vikas Nigam Limited which is generating funds through
various sources including the market borrowing. Our need was to generate
about Rs.47,000 crore to take care of the projects on the shelf. Out of this,
we found that we can generate about Rs.12,500 crore or so out of the normal
Budgetary support as per the past trends. We would be generating about
Rs.18,000 crore due to the new initiatives that have been taken in the past
few years. It still leaves us a gap of about Rs.17,000 crore to take care of
the projects which are by and large non-remunerative projects but they are
on the shelf. These are the projects which are connecting distant areas,
backward areas. They were sanctioned on socio-economic considerations
and so many other considerations. Even for the sum of Rs.17,000 crore,
which is our requirement, in the year 2004, in the Interim Budget, a scheme
of Remote Area Rail Sampark Yojana was introduced. We are yet to finsalise
the funding pattern under this scheme. The effort is to involve the State
Government's participation into this scheme as also through other means.
We are yet to give it a final shape."
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 Capital
Fund to see that we can put in more money.
Page 22: Talks about National Projects
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.
============================================================
THE following world bank reports adds to the 2004 RAIL budget in that it says
the central govt. was expected to take care of full funding of
the rail lines to the remote areas.
============================================================
(ii)
http://info.worldbank.org/etools/docs/library/240060/India%20%20financing%20infrastructure%20-%20addressing%20constraints%20and%20challenges.pdf
June 2006 report
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.
page 70 above Table A8
=====================================
Concluding comments: We understand that the NDA 2004 budget
did not quite say where the money for the RARSY was going to come from, and it was
made with an eye to the election.
However, as India moves forward:
* it can not just forget its backward and tribal areas; while Indian Railways makes plans
for freight corridors, bullet trains, and metro rails.
* as the largest employer IR can not just forget making employment centers in its backward and tribal areas,
and focus only on the backyard of its Rail Minister, its alliance Chairperson, and states
ruled by its allies (Kerala)
Being familiar with Orissa, in the context of Orissa, I request that you put some sense into
the Railway leadership (the Rail Minsiter, and the Railway Board) so that they plan to
(a) Finish the KBk connecting lines such as: Khurda-Balangir,
Gunupur-Theruvali, and
Lanjigarh Rd - Bhawanipatna - Junagarh-Nabarangpur-Jeypore-Malkangiri-Bhadrachalam Rd and
(b) establish a job center (like a rail factory) in the backward and tribal KBK region.
sincerely,
Chitta Baral
--
Chitta Baral
Professor, Arizona State University
Monday, August 6, 2007
Lanjigarh - Umuri Railway Project, When?
Dharitri, Aug 7, 2007
Dharitri reports that Nabarangpur district has so far been neglected in railway map. In 1990 during Mr Chandra Sekhar government a survey was carried out to start a railway project from Lanjigarh to Umuri (Jeyapore). However, the central government has been totally neglecting this project since then.
Dharitri reports that Nabarangpur district has so far been neglected in railway map. In 1990 during Mr Chandra Sekhar government a survey was carried out to start a railway project from Lanjigarh to Umuri (Jeyapore). However, the central government has been totally neglecting this project since then.
Thursday, July 12, 2007
Make KBK Rail Connectivity: a National Project
Dear esteemed Chief Minister, Commerce & Transport secretary
and Rail commissioner:
You may recall that the 2007-08 rail budget had very little allocation
for the new lines in Orissa such as Khurda Rd - Balangir. My analysis after
going through the rail budget is that it was not because Orissa was
singled out but because of recent Indian Railways policy
(a) to give priority to the gauge conversion of 13,000 kms of narrow gauge lines
(only 127 kms of which is in Orissa)
(b) to give priority to the projects labeled as national projects (J & K,
North eastern states)
(c) to force states to pay 50% or more for other projects
(d) to construct freight corridors (first two to be made during the 11th plan
do not pass through Orissa)
(e) to supplement metro rail construction in 10+ cities across India
(f) and to explore high speed corridors (none of the proposed ones pass through
Orissa)
Under these circumstances, and under normal circumstances
unless Orissa is able to find 50% of the necessary money
it may take 20-30 years or more for the Khurda-Balangir line and the
Juagarh-Nabrangpur-Jeypore-Malkangiri line to get complete.
The only way out is to try our best to designate the above lines
declared as national project with a time table of getting them done
during the 11th plan. If we succeed in getting them designated
as a national project then well and good, if not we may be able to
get them a high priority or force a change in the policy so that these
lines get done in 5 years. (This will be similar to the Vijaywada-Ranchi
highway, which although did not get the national highway designation,
got enough attention and funding promises to get in the priority list.)
A similar approach is being tried by Uttarakhand and recent news report
mention that Mr. Lalu Yadav has asked the PM to designate the making of certain lines
in Uttarakhand as national projects.
I think we need to move fast and make a similar effort by presenting
our case (to designate the making of lines in KBK+ as national project)
with both the PM as well as the railway minister. They claim to be in
a receptive mood vis-a-vis Orissa and we must not miss this chance.
We must make sure that the finishing of these lines in the next
five years is inked in the 11th plan.
To help you in this I have attached a draft presentation which
one may improve upon.
Again, this is the time. If we are not able to do something now, after the 11th
plan is being finalized, no matter how much we shout and cry in December/Jan/Feb it
may not help; as it did not help last year.
Please, please urgently contact Mr. Lalu Yadav and the PM and make
the case, and if necessary write about it, go to the media etc. etc. as you
did successfully with respect to the Vijaywada-Ranchi highway.
sincerely and with best regards
Chitta
--
Chitta Baral
Professor, Arizona State University
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The following documents contains the proposal by Prof Chitta Baral to make KBK Rail Connectivity a National Project for bringing new infrastructure to backward KBK+ cluster.
Proposal in PPT
Proposal with a map in PDF
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
and Rail commissioner:
You may recall that the 2007-08 rail budget had very little allocation
for the new lines in Orissa such as Khurda Rd - Balangir. My analysis after
going through the rail budget is that it was not because Orissa was
singled out but because of recent Indian Railways policy
(a) to give priority to the gauge conversion of 13,000 kms of narrow gauge lines
(only 127 kms of which is in Orissa)
(b) to give priority to the projects labeled as national projects (J & K,
North eastern states)
(c) to force states to pay 50% or more for other projects
(d) to construct freight corridors (first two to be made during the 11th plan
do not pass through Orissa)
(e) to supplement metro rail construction in 10+ cities across India
(f) and to explore high speed corridors (none of the proposed ones pass through
Orissa)
Under these circumstances, and under normal circumstances
unless Orissa is able to find 50% of the necessary money
it may take 20-30 years or more for the Khurda-Balangir line and the
Juagarh-Nabrangpur-Jeypore-Malkangiri line to get complete.
The only way out is to try our best to designate the above lines
declared as national project with a time table of getting them done
during the 11th plan. If we succeed in getting them designated
as a national project then well and good, if not we may be able to
get them a high priority or force a change in the policy so that these
lines get done in 5 years. (This will be similar to the Vijaywada-Ranchi
highway, which although did not get the national highway designation,
got enough attention and funding promises to get in the priority list.)
A similar approach is being tried by Uttarakhand and recent news report
mention that Mr. Lalu Yadav has asked the PM to designate the making of certain lines
in Uttarakhand as national projects.
I think we need to move fast and make a similar effort by presenting
our case (to designate the making of lines in KBK+ as national project)
with both the PM as well as the railway minister. They claim to be in
a receptive mood vis-a-vis Orissa and we must not miss this chance.
We must make sure that the finishing of these lines in the next
five years is inked in the 11th plan.
To help you in this I have attached a draft presentation which
one may improve upon.
Again, this is the time. If we are not able to do something now, after the 11th
plan is being finalized, no matter how much we shout and cry in December/Jan/Feb it
may not help; as it did not help last year.
Please, please urgently contact Mr. Lalu Yadav and the PM and make
the case, and if necessary write about it, go to the media etc. etc. as you
did successfully with respect to the Vijaywada-Ranchi highway.
sincerely and with best regards
Chitta
--
Chitta Baral
Professor, Arizona State University
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The following documents contains the proposal by Prof Chitta Baral to make KBK Rail Connectivity a National Project for bringing new infrastructure to backward KBK+ cluster.
Proposal in PPT
Proposal with a map in PDF
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Wednesday, July 11, 2007
Railway link yet to see light of day
The Statesman, July 11, 2007
Statesman News Service
ROURKELA, July 10: The railway ministry continues to show its step-motherly attitude towards the Talcher-Bimlagarh railway line, which is one of the most important and vital railway links in the state. This is one of the most controversial railway projects, having been undertaken about forty years ago and is yet to witness completion. Every year money is put on this 200 kilometre project, for the purpose of keeping it alive.
Answering to a question raised by Mr Juel Oram, the MP, Sundergarh, Mr Velluraman the minister of state for railways, informed that the department has sanctioned an amount of Rs 15 crore for this railway link. The minister added that the amount has been allotted for expansion, survey and other such works needed before laying the railway track.
It is disheartening to learn that after so many years, the amount has been increased by five crore said a railway official here. “The ministry is not very serious about it, for which it has been neglected for years. This little amount is meant to keep the project alive,” the official said.
This vital link will certainly go a long way in improving the economic condition of the state, besides increasing the connectivity between western and coastal Orissa. This railway link will also provide an easy approach for goods to reach the Paradip port and it will earn more profit. Besides, the Paradip will become busy in comparison to others.
This part of the state witnessed mass movements, demanding the completion of the project, but so far nothing has moved beyond the drawing board. The political parties are putting blame on each other, but the fact is that no party ever took this project very seriously.
Mr Kahnu Charana Lenka, who was once the minister for state railways could not do any thing to write about. The same thing happened when the BJD was a major constituent in the BJP led NDA government.
Statesman News Service
ROURKELA, July 10: The railway ministry continues to show its step-motherly attitude towards the Talcher-Bimlagarh railway line, which is one of the most important and vital railway links in the state. This is one of the most controversial railway projects, having been undertaken about forty years ago and is yet to witness completion. Every year money is put on this 200 kilometre project, for the purpose of keeping it alive.
Answering to a question raised by Mr Juel Oram, the MP, Sundergarh, Mr Velluraman the minister of state for railways, informed that the department has sanctioned an amount of Rs 15 crore for this railway link. The minister added that the amount has been allotted for expansion, survey and other such works needed before laying the railway track.
It is disheartening to learn that after so many years, the amount has been increased by five crore said a railway official here. “The ministry is not very serious about it, for which it has been neglected for years. This little amount is meant to keep the project alive,” the official said.
This vital link will certainly go a long way in improving the economic condition of the state, besides increasing the connectivity between western and coastal Orissa. This railway link will also provide an easy approach for goods to reach the Paradip port and it will earn more profit. Besides, the Paradip will become busy in comparison to others.
This part of the state witnessed mass movements, demanding the completion of the project, but so far nothing has moved beyond the drawing board. The political parties are putting blame on each other, but the fact is that no party ever took this project very seriously.
Mr Kahnu Charana Lenka, who was once the minister for state railways could not do any thing to write about. The same thing happened when the BJD was a major constituent in the BJP led NDA government.
Tuesday, June 5, 2007
Railway projects in AP, Orissa get clearance
The East Coast Railway (ECoR) has got clearance for 84 projects to be set up in the private sector Out of this 56 are under its Khurda division, while 15 are in Waltair and 13 in Sambalpur. Also, 41 projects are in various stages of completion. According to the railways. with this clearance, the authorities of the projects will set up private railway sidings to facilitate movement of raw materials and finished products.
The railways will bear part of the cost of the sidings depending on the guaranteed cargo support, especially the cost of superstructure, which are called assisted sidings. Almost every new siding is being set up as assisted sidings, said ECoR sources.
The cost of a siding comes to about Rs 3.5 crore to Rs 6 crore per km. This is mostly dependent on the topography of the area. Needless to say, the length of the siding is different for different projects. Some are less than one km but others could be as long as 27-km.
The railways will bear part of the cost of the sidings depending on the guaranteed cargo support, especially the cost of superstructure, which are called assisted sidings. Almost every new siding is being set up as assisted sidings, said ECoR sources.
The cost of a siding comes to about Rs 3.5 crore to Rs 6 crore per km. This is mostly dependent on the topography of the area. Needless to say, the length of the siding is different for different projects. Some are less than one km but others could be as long as 27-km.
Wednesday, May 30, 2007
Making New Railway Track Exploration in KBK+ Districts
Exploring new railway route is also part of Indian railway that is done regularly in yearly basis. Simultaneous effort should be given in this line as well. New railway track exploration in KBK Plus districts by Indian Railway should be made in the following routes:
(1) Connecting Phulbani with Bhubaneswar such as;
Puranakatak (Boudh dist) - Phulbani (kandhamal dist)
This could be extended to make a network in following route.
Puranakatak (Boudh dist) - Phulbani (kandhamal dist) - Baliguda (Kandhamal dist)-Lanjigarh road
This route will additionally help to reduce distance between Bhawanipatna and Bhubaneswar and connect Baliguda with Phulbani.
(2) Connecting Malkangiri and Nawarangpur districts with Bhubaneswar such as;
Malkangiri – Jeyapore – Nawarangpur – Junagarh
But instead of connecting Nawarangpur with Junagarh similar to NH 201, better to connect via Dharamgarh (merely 10km extra length) because it would benefit a lot to local people (i) for those who visit Dharamgarh sub-divisional offices from Koksara, Jaipatna, Junagarh, Kalampur and Dharamgarh blocks, & (ii) for those who visit Bhawanipatna district head quarter from Dharamgarh, Koksara, Golamunda and part of Junagarh blocks.
So the proposed line could be explored in the following route;
Malkangiri (Malkangiri Dist) – Boipariguda (Koraput Dist) - Jeypore (Koraput Dist) – Boriguma (Koraput Dist) -Nabarangapur (Nabarangapur Dist)– Maidalpur (Nabarangapur Dist) – Ampani (Kalahandi Dist)– Moter (Kalahandi district) - Dharamgarh (Kalahandi district) - Junagarh (Kalahandi district)
(3) Connecting Ramagiri Udayagiri (Gajpati Dist) with Bhuabaneswar, Gopalpur and Rayagada such as;
Gunpur (Rayagada Dist) – Ramagiri Udayagiri (Gajpati Dist)– Digapahandi (Ganjam Dist)-Berhampur (Ganjam Dist) – Gopalpur (Ganjam Dist)
This will help to reduce the distance between Bhubaneswar and Koraput/Jeypore/Rayagada and connect South Orissa with Gopalpur port.
(4) A route to connect the most infamous and unexplored region of Kalahandi and Nuapada districts, which actually made at first KBK region infamous and opened the eye of social workers about poverty and backwardness in this part, could be explored. For example, the most poverty and backward region in KBK districts comes under Golamunda, Thuamul Rampur, Lanjigarh, Sinapali, Komna, Khariara and Nuapada blocks. This railway line would make Golamunda, Sinapali, Komna, Khariara and Nuapada blocks, which are still infamous for poverty, malnutrition, backwardness etc, accessible to outer world. So a railway track should be explored in this route such as;
Dharamgarh (Kalahandi Dist) - Golamunda (Kalahandi Dist)- Sinpali (Nuapada Dist) - Khariar (Nuapada Dist)– Nuapada (Nuapada Dist)- Nuapada road– Padampur (Bargarh Dist)- Bargarh (Bargarh Dist)
This route will connect another backward region Padampur with Bargarh which is a long standing demand. There are also demands to connect Khariar and Sinapali with Nuapada, Golamunda and Dharamgarh with Bhawanipatna and Padampur with Nuapada. This route will serve all the purposes.
(1) Connecting Phulbani with Bhubaneswar such as;
Puranakatak (Boudh dist) - Phulbani (kandhamal dist)
This could be extended to make a network in following route.
Puranakatak (Boudh dist) - Phulbani (kandhamal dist) - Baliguda (Kandhamal dist)-Lanjigarh road
This route will additionally help to reduce distance between Bhawanipatna and Bhubaneswar and connect Baliguda with Phulbani.
(2) Connecting Malkangiri and Nawarangpur districts with Bhubaneswar such as;
Malkangiri – Jeyapore – Nawarangpur – Junagarh
But instead of connecting Nawarangpur with Junagarh similar to NH 201, better to connect via Dharamgarh (merely 10km extra length) because it would benefit a lot to local people (i) for those who visit Dharamgarh sub-divisional offices from Koksara, Jaipatna, Junagarh, Kalampur and Dharamgarh blocks, & (ii) for those who visit Bhawanipatna district head quarter from Dharamgarh, Koksara, Golamunda and part of Junagarh blocks.
So the proposed line could be explored in the following route;
Malkangiri (Malkangiri Dist) – Boipariguda (Koraput Dist) - Jeypore (Koraput Dist) – Boriguma (Koraput Dist) -Nabarangapur (Nabarangapur Dist)– Maidalpur (Nabarangapur Dist) – Ampani (Kalahandi Dist)– Moter (Kalahandi district) - Dharamgarh (Kalahandi district) - Junagarh (Kalahandi district)
(3) Connecting Ramagiri Udayagiri (Gajpati Dist) with Bhuabaneswar, Gopalpur and Rayagada such as;
Gunpur (Rayagada Dist) – Ramagiri Udayagiri (Gajpati Dist)– Digapahandi (Ganjam Dist)-Berhampur (Ganjam Dist) – Gopalpur (Ganjam Dist)
This will help to reduce the distance between Bhubaneswar and Koraput/Jeypore/Rayagada and connect South Orissa with Gopalpur port.
(4) A route to connect the most infamous and unexplored region of Kalahandi and Nuapada districts, which actually made at first KBK region infamous and opened the eye of social workers about poverty and backwardness in this part, could be explored. For example, the most poverty and backward region in KBK districts comes under Golamunda, Thuamul Rampur, Lanjigarh, Sinapali, Komna, Khariara and Nuapada blocks. This railway line would make Golamunda, Sinapali, Komna, Khariara and Nuapada blocks, which are still infamous for poverty, malnutrition, backwardness etc, accessible to outer world. So a railway track should be explored in this route such as;
Dharamgarh (Kalahandi Dist) - Golamunda (Kalahandi Dist)- Sinpali (Nuapada Dist) - Khariar (Nuapada Dist)– Nuapada (Nuapada Dist)- Nuapada road– Padampur (Bargarh Dist)- Bargarh (Bargarh Dist)
This route will connect another backward region Padampur with Bargarh which is a long standing demand. There are also demands to connect Khariar and Sinapali with Nuapada, Golamunda and Dharamgarh with Bhawanipatna and Padampur with Nuapada. This route will serve all the purposes.
Monday, May 28, 2007
Getting KBK+ districts closer to the state capital
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.]
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] :
- Parlakhemundi, the district headquarter of Gajapati will be on Broad gauge rail and will be 305 kms from Bhubaneswar (the state capital). [c]
- Sonepur, the district HQ of Sonepur district will be on Broad gauge rail and will be 259 kms from Bhubaneswar (the state capital). [a]
- Boudh, the district HQ of Boudha district will be on Broad gauge and will be 217 kms from Bhubaneswar (the state capital).[a]
- Nayagarha, the district HQ of Nayagarha district will be on Broad gauge and will be 84 kms from Bhubaneswar (the state capital). [a]
- 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]
- Balangir, the district HQ of Balangir district will now be 309 kms from Bhubaneswar instead of the earlier 397 kms. [a]
- Nawapara Rd, near the district HQ of Nawapara district will now be 459 kms from Bhubaneswar instead of the earlier 547 kms. [a]
- Rayagada, the district HQ of Rayagada district will now be 419 kms from Bhubaneswar instead of the earlier 502 kms. [c,d]
- Koraput, the district HQ of Koraput district will now be 573 kms from Bhubaneswar instead of the earlier 676 kms. [c,d]
- Titlagarh, a major junction will now be 373 kms from Bhubaneswar instead of the earlier 461 kms. [a]
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] :
- Parlakhemundi-Naupada Rd is 40 kms and Naupada Rd to Bhubaneswar is 265 kms.
- Sonepur to Khurda Rd is 240 kms and Khurda Rd to Bhubaneswar is 19 kms.
- Boudha to Khurda Rd is 198 kms and Khurda Rd to Bhubaneswar is 19 kms.
- Nayagarh to Khurda Rd is 65 kms and Khurda Rd to Bhubaneswar is 19 kms.
- 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.
- 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.
- Nawapara Rd to Titlagarh is 86 kms and Titlagarh to Balangir is 64 kms.
- 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.
- Koraput to Rayagada is 174 kms.
- Titlagarh to Balangir is 64 kms.
Saturday, May 26, 2007
Tribal land subsidizing some metro rails: tribals ride on roof of freight trains
Tribal land subsidizing some metro rails: tribals ride on roof of freight trains
Chitta Baral, Professor, Arizona State University, chitta@gmail.com
By all measures the achievements of Indian Railways over the last two years have been phenomenal and everyone associated with this turnaround, and especially the railway minister Mr. Lalu Yadav, deserve all the kudos that are coming their way. These achievements and the resulting euphoria has propelled the Railways towards many ambitious and further profit making plans such as a dedicated freight corridor. However, we hope that in this euphoria, the Indian Railways (IR) instead of forgetting its social responsibilities uses part of the profit to make amends to its past inequities.
Consider the following. During 2003-2004 and 2004-05 with respect to the working expense as part of gross earnings the top two profitable railway zones are the South east central-SEC (62.8% and 56.1%) with divisions at Bilaspur (HQ), Nagpur and Raipur and the East Cost-ECOR (66.64% and 61.75%) with divisions at Khurda Rd (near HQ), Sambalpur and Waltair. The top two loss making zones/entities are metro Kolkata (247% and 264.38%) and North Eastern (151.93% and 160.88%). A big part of the profit of the SEC, ECOR and even the profit making South Eastern railway (with divisions at Kharagpur, Chakradharpur, Adra and Ranchi) comes from transporting minerals from various mines in the tribal areas of Orissa, Chhatisgarh and Jharkhand. Yet, when one considers the railway density – Route kms per one thousand sq km – figures, the two states that are part of the most profitable areas of Indian Railways, are in the receiving end. In particular, while the average rail density (2004-05) for
This indicates that the Indian Railways is not only using profit earned from zones in tribal areas to subsidize various other zones and entities, it has discriminated against the areas from which it makes the most profit. Moreover, many Railway experts often do not distinguish between projects in these areas and other areas and brandish the term “unprofitable populist projects” without distinction. As a result several projects in these areas have languished for years and may continue to languish despite the big profits that Railways has started making recently.
This neglect by Indian railways of these areas has had a social cost. Several districts in these areas are listed among the most backward districts of
We request the Indian Railways and the planning commission to pay as much special attention to this other frontier of
Finally, when establishing new production related employment centers such as the recently announced Rail coach factory in Rae Bareli (cost :1000 crores, direct employment : 5000 people, indirect employment: another 10,000) and the Rail engine factory in Bihar (with similar cost and employment numbers), IR and the planning commission should pick locations keeping regional balance in mind and not just based on where some special people come from. At least one of the above location adds to regional imbalance as IR currently has production units in Kapurthala (Punjab), Perambur (Tamil Nadu), Varanasi (Uttar Pradesh), Chittaranjan (West Bengal), Patiala (Punjab) and Bangalore (Karnataka). Wouldn’t it be a perfect implementation of the UPA common minimum program with respect to tribals if the next production unit is located in a tribal and backward district and surrounded by such districts? Such actions of locating job centers in tribal areas would have a much bigger impact than having reservations for tribals in far flung job centers
Indian Railways' overlooked frontier
Indian Railways' overlooked frontier
Chitta Baral, Professor, Arizona State University, chitta@gmail.com
By all measures the achievements of Indian Railways over the last two years have been phenomenal and everyone associated with this turnaround, and especially the railway minister Mr. Lalu Yadav, deserve all the kudos that are coming their way. The brochure on Railways at http://infrastructure.gov.in/ highlights some of the achievements till October 2006. It mentions that the freight and passenger traffic growing at the rate of 9.4% and 7.4% respectively during the last two years as opposed to historical growth at 3-4%. Recent news items mention Railways having a profit of Rs 13,000 crores in 2005-06 and anticipating a profit of Rs 20,000 in 2006-07.
These achievements and the resulting euphoria has propelled the Railways towards many ambitious and further profit making plans such as a dedicated freight corridor. However, there is a worry that in this euphoria the Indian railways may forget its social responsibilities. The goal of Indian Railways is not to be a profit making arm of the Indian government -- the Indian government is not a business enterprise, but rather a self sustaining unit that fulfills its social responsibilities and provides for part of the infrastructure needed for
There is a great disparity in terms of railway density -- Route kms per one thousand sq km -- across various states of the country. Using the 2004-05 figures, the average rail density for
While the importance of having adequate Railway infrastructure in
By the other frontier of
among the most backward districts of
This has not gone unnoticed. The Planning Commission in its report comparing the development status of economic infrastructure of Orissa, especially the KBK region, vis-a-vis the country says: "Railways have always played an important role in the 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." Similarly in analyzing the 69 backward districts of India Bibek Debroy and Laveesh Bhandari say: "Rail network is significantly less dense in the backward districts (with the exception of
Hence, although the 2005-06 Railway budget significantly increased its allocation to projects in Orissa over previous years, the 11th five year plan should aim to finish and the 2007 budget should have generous allocations towards some of the unfinished connectivity in the above mentioned forgotten frontier straddling Orissa, Chhatisgarh and Andhra Pradesh. This includes the lines
There are several other dangling lines in the above mentioned states where the end points are mining locations. The resulting lack of connectivity has resulted in almost zero passenger services and as a result local inhabitants, mostly tribals, often travel on the roof
of freight trains and this has resulted in several tragic incidents with loss of lives. Some of these end points are Barsuan, Kiriburu, Gua, Bolanikhadan, Badampahar and Gurumahisani and the 11th plan must aim to connect as many of them as possible through the already surveyed and/or initiated connections such as Talcher-Barsuan, Keonjhar-Badampahar and Bangiriposi-Gurumahisani.
An irony is that the freight operations in these areas have contributed significantly to the Railways profits, but yet the Railways has hesitated in focusing on completing the above mentioned lines. For example, 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 other profit making zones in those years are South east central (62.8% and 56.1%), 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 are 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%).
The above is illuminating; in some sense the poor and backward tribals and their land in ECOR is generating profits that is being ploughed into subsidizing the commuters in metro Kolkata. In the coming years additional metro lines are under works. This includes
146.5 Km in Mumbai at a cost of Rs. 19,525 crores, two lines in Bangalore covering 33 km at a cost of Rs. 6,207 crores, a three line Hyderabad metro of 66 km at the cost of Rs 8,760 crores, etc. No doubt, for speedier implementation part of the above will be borne by the states, but what about the operating expenses in the future years? These cities are drivers of
Switching gears let us now consider another aspect of the Indian Railways. With 1.6 million employees it is the largest employer in the world. With its aim to significantly grow in the coming years there will be opportunities for the establishments of new employment centers such as new production units. For example, it is reported that the recently announced Rail Coach factory in Rae Bareli at a cost of 1000 crores will provide direct employment to 5000 people and indirect employment to another 10,000; and the Rail engine factory in Bdhaura in Bihar's Saran district at a cost of Rs 1000 crore will give direct employment to 5000 people and indirect employment to another 10,000.
When establishing such units IR must look at regional balance and distribute them across the country. Its recent announcements of a Rail coach factory in Rae Bareli (the constituency of Mrs. Sonia Gandhi) and
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