Indian Railways' forgotten frontier : tribals travel on rooftops

India Yatra, Hindustan Times reviews demand of Railway Line and a Railway Coach Factory in Kalahandi

2009-04-07T07:41:00.000-07:00

India Yatra, Hindustan Times, April 3, 2009
http://blogs.hindustantimes.com/india-yatra/2009/04/03/there%e2%80%99s-no-hunger-in-hunger-capital/#more-236

........... The new demands reflect the new aspirations: A central university in Kalahandi; colleges for engineering and medical sciences; more teachers in schools; better prices for farm produce; and a railroad network to help improve business......
... railway line and railway coach are being damanded in Kalahandi (in video & voice)

Advani raises hope for people in KBK region

2009-04-02T12:51:00.003-07:00

The Pioneer, April 3, 2009
PNS | Bhubaneswar

LK Advani’s announcement to construct a Kantabanji-Jeypore railway line if the NDA comes to power, has raised high hopes among the people of Koraput, Nabarangpur and Kalahandi.

Coming to know about the NDA’s prime ministerial candidate’s assurance, leading NRO Digambara Patra has appealed to the civil society in the State to highlight the advantages of this lifeline for these three underdeveloped districts. Addressing an election meeting at Khariar on March 31, Advani had said a Kantabanji-Jeypore rail line via Khariar, Dharamgarh, Ambapani and Nabarangpur would be sanctioned if the NDA is voted to power.

The proposed rail line covers Balangir, Nuapada, Kalahandi, Nabarangpur and Koraput districts, said Patra, who belongs to Kalahandi and teaches in the American University of Beirut. It was also proposed for survey in the 2008-09 Railway Budget speech made by Railway Minister Lalu Prasad, he said.

The three Lok Sabha constituencies — Nabarangpur, Koraput and Kalahandi — are at the bottom of the socio-economy ladder in India, a recent India Today survey showed. Railway development in these areas will not only boost infrastructure but also bring employment in the region, feels Patra.

A railway factory in Kalahandi will also bring about development as there is no Government-run industries in the region, whereas Koraput and Balangir have got HAL and ordnance factories, respectively, from the Central Government. A railway factory in Kalahandi has been a longstanding demand, said Dr Patra.

Not a single rail line has been sanctioned in Kalahandi, Balangir, Koraput, Nuapada, Malkangiri and Nabarangpur districts in the last 10 years, he pointed out.

Advani raises hope for people in KBK region

2009-04-02T12:51:00.001-07:00

Advani promises Kanatabanji Jeypore through Nuapada, Kalahandi and Nabrangpur Railway Line

2009-03-31T14:41:00.000-07:00

The Pioneer, April 1, 2009

Advani on recovering black money from Swiss banks

Nimai Charan Sahu/Rakesh Joshi | Sambalpur/Bargarh/Nuapada

NDA prime ministerial candidate LK Advani on Tuesday said black money is crippling the economy of the country and there should be efforts to bring back the million crores of rupees deposited in Swiss banks by Indians. He was addressing an election campaign meeting of the BJP at Paikmal in Padmapur sub-division in Bargarh district.

“I have requested Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to raise this issue in the coming G-20 nations’ conference,” he said. Once recovered, this huge money could be invested in health, education, rural development, irrigation and all other developmental sectors, he added.

Surprisingly, unlike other BJP leaders, including Sushma Swaraj and Arun Jaitley who visited Orissa recently, Advani did not utter a single word against Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik or his BJD in his entire address. He only appealed to the people to vote for the BJP and the NDA both in the State and for the Centre for strong and stable Government.

However, BJP State president Suresh Pujari, BJP candidate from Bargarh Lok Sabha seat, Radharani Panda, Padmapur Assembly seat nominee Pradip Purohit and the party’s State secretary Aswini Sarangi, in their speeches, severely criticised Patnaik and the BJD. District party president Sauri Charan Barik presided over the meeting.

Advani strongly criticised the Congress and UPA Government at the Centre for the present crises everywhere. Price rise of all products including essential commodities severely affects poor people of the country in spite of the tall claim of the UPA Government on low rate of inflation, he said. He assured that if the NDA comes to power, Padmapur sub-division of Bargarh district would be included under the KBK programme for its socio-economic development.

Earlier, launching the election campaign in the State from Khariar in Nuapada district, Adavani said his Government would stress on providing good governance including transparent and progressive Government to the people.

Lauding the efforts of the Vajpayee Government, he said besides making the India an atomic power, the Government was putting stress on connecting the entire country with roads. “While I had laid the foundation stone of road from Gandhinagar to Silichar, I was not able to see the completed road in Silchar which incidentally comes in Assam from where Manmohan Singh has been elected. Development of agriculture and farmers will be the priority of the BJP which had given the farmers a Kisan credit card,” he said.

Though his speech centered mostly on national issues, he touched on local issues and said their demands of a railway line between Kantabanji and Jeypore through Nuapada Kalahandi and Nabrangpur would be fulfilled if the BJP is voted to power.

Projects in 2 Lalu constituencies to be put on fast track

2009-02-04T12:27:00.001-08:00

Times of India, Feb 5, 2009

NEW DELHI: Anxious to appease his constituents before the model code of conduct forbidding sops kicks in, railway minister Lalu Prasad has got the
government to agree to a change in the mode of execution of projects to manufacture electric and diesel locomotives — putting two factories in home state Bihar on the fast track.

The Union Cabinet on Thursday is scheduled to take up a proposal to switch the character of the projects to manufacture electric and diesel from public private partnership (PPP) schemes to joint ventures involving the railway ministry.

The change is designed to help speed up the projects coming up, at an estimated cost of Rs 2,800 crore, in Chhapra and Madhepura. Lalu contested and won from both constituencies in 2004 and the decision to locate two high-value projects, announced in 2007, were seen as a thanksgiving gesture to the electorate.

A greenfield high horsepower electric locomotive factory will be set up at Madhepura, while Marhowra in Chhapra, from where the RJD strongman in all probability will seek re-election, will be the site of a diesel locomotive plant.

Top government sources pointed out that the railway ministry has framed a new proposal suggesting that the project will be a joint venture between Indian Railways and a private firm, and not a public-private partnership (PPP) project as originally conceived.

The joint venture option, which is likely to have majority stake of railways, will cut the project's time table as it will require just a clearance from Lalu's ministry. In contrast, the PPP mode will have to be vetted from an inter-ministerial committee, including Planning Commission and finance ministry consuming more time.

Lalu has made few bones of his uneasiness with the objections raised and clarifications sought by the plan panel and the finance ministry as they check proposals for their financial viability.

On Thursday, the railway minister lodged a strong protest against the ``obstructionist'' ways of the plan panel and bureaucracy in the meeting he had with UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi.

The move comes against the backdrop of difficulties railway ministry had faced in putting projects, cleared in 2007, on the implementation track. The approaching polls, clearly, added to the sense of urgency.

Sources pointed out that according to the new proposal, to be discussed by Cabinet, the transaction with the private company will be a procurement and a maintenance contract executed between the ministry and the joint venture.

The railway ministry has said the contract for procurement will last for eight years and the locomotives will have to be delivered by the supplier over eight years.

The contract for procurement of locomotives will also include their maintenance for up to 20 years. Every year, the joint venture will be expected to deliver a specific number of locomotives, said an official.

Develop rail network in kandhamal

2009-02-04T05:21:00.001-08:00

Expressbuzz, Feb 4, 2009

BHUBANESWAR: Agami Odisha and several organisations staged a demonstration in front of the headquarters of the East Coast Railway here today demanding development of railway network in Kandhamal and other backward regions of the State.

In a memorandum addressed to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, the organisations maintained that Kandhamal and Kalahandi-Balangir-Koraput (KBK) regions are most backward areas of the country.

Similar backward areas in the country like the north-eastern states have received special treatment from the Railway Board but the KBK region has been neglected for decades, the memorandum alleged and demanded a special package for the region.

Alleging step-motherly attitude of the Railways towards the State, the memorandum maintained that Khurda Road- Balangir and Lanjigarh Road- Junagarh railway lines in Orissa were approved much earlier than Muzaffarpur-Sitamarhi and Sultanganj-Deogarh railway lines in Bihar, but only 10 per cent work has been completed.

But both the projects in Bihar have been completed.

During last 15 years more lines were approved in Bihar, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and West Bengal than in Orissa, it alleged and demanded that a Kandhamal rail link should be sanctioned.

Former MP and CPM leader Shivaji Patnaik participated in the demonstration.

Agami Odisha demands rail link to Kandhamal

2009-02-03T11:00:00.000-08:00

The Pioneer, Fab 4, 2009
PNS | Bhubaneswar

Demanding completion of all the ongoing Railway Projects in the State and sanction of rail link to Kandhamal district, a dharna-cum-meeting was organised by the Agami Odisha, Swabhiman Odisha Manch, Loksamukha, Focus Orissa and Khurda-Balangir Rail Line Kriyanusthan Committee at the East Coast Railway office here on Tuesday.

A delegation of five members led by working president of the Agami Odisha Er Lalit Mohan Pattnaik submitted a memorandum to the Prime Minister through Chief Engineer of the ECoR Rail Project. The Chief Engineer assured to take immediately steps to meet their demands.

Their demands included sanction of rail link to Kandhamal and connection of railways between Khurda Road-Balangir, Naupada-Gunupur-Therubali, Lanjigarh Road-Bhawanipatna-Junagarh-Nabrangpur-Jeypore-Malkangiri, Talcher-Bimlagarh, Bangiriposi-Gurumahisasini and Buramara-Chakulia during the 11th plan period. Moreover, they also demanded conversion of the Coach Repair Factory at Mancheswar here to a Coach Manufacturing Factory, sanction of a coach factory in KBK districts, declaration of Rourkela and Rayagada as divisions, all mineral reservoirs in the State should be included in ECOR, establishment of a zonal Railway Hospital here and appointment of supervisors and below workers from the State.

They alleged that backward regions of the country like North Eastern States are receiving special treatment by railway board, whereas the similar backward KBK region is being neglected since decades. The railway infrastructure of the State is substantially low compared to the national average, though the Railway is making huge profits from the State. During last 15 years, more lines were approved to Bihar, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and West Bengal, though these places come under loss making zones.

Former MP Sivaji Pattnaik, CPI Assistant Secretary Asish Kanungo, Bichitra Badajena from Utkal Sammilani, Manoj Jena from the Binoba Seva Pratisthan and Madhu Bai from National Youth Project, along with representatives from all districts raised their voices against the step-motherly attitude of the Railway Board towards the State.

Lalu to gift railway division to home district

2009-02-01T01:14:00.000-08:00

Times of India, Feb 1, 2009

PATNA: Railways minister Lalu Prasad is set to gift his home district, Gopalganj in Bihar, a railway division before the next Lok Sabha polls.

After Lalu Prasad's ancestral village Phulwaria is connected with his wife and former chief minister Rabri Devi's Salar Kalan village, Lalu now plans to give another rare gift to Bihar by announcing the establishment of a railway division in Thawe at Gopalganj.

"Thawe would have a new railway division," Lalu said Saturday. He was on a visit to his native village Phulwaria and hinted that he would announce the establishment of the division in his last railway budget to be presented later in February.

According to railway officials, Lalu asked senior officials to prepare necessary ground for creation of a new railway division at Thawe in Gopalganj.

Thawe has a railway station at present and is not far from Lalu's birth place Phulwaria and his wife's birthplace Salar Kalan.

Thawe railway division will be part of the East Central Railway zone headquarters at Hajipur in Bihar.

Lalu also announced establishing of a new railway division in Bhagalpur. "Both Thawe and Bhagalpur would be headed by divisional railway managers."

During his five year term as a Railways Minister, Lalu has gifted several projects and dozens of new trains to Bihar. He recently said that the Indian Railways are investing Rs.550 billion (Rs.55,000 crore) in Bihar for execution of various railway projects to usher "a new era of development".

Orissa's KBK: Forgotten by all

2009-02-01T01:13:00.000-08:00

Merinews, Feb 1, 2009

Kalahandi Balangir Koraput in Orissa is a backward region in all aspects and need special aid from the Union Government. However, the region is being ignored by all major players for industrial and agricultural developments.

KALAHANDI BALANGIR Koraput (KBK) region in Orissa is a multi-facet backward region due to hilly terrain, tribal population and natural calamities.

Thankfully, KBK region is considered along with special category states by Union Government of India when it comes to irrigation project. However, infrastructure development is the key to the success for such a backward region. Unfortunately, in railway development KBK is being neglected severely and has not yet been considered by Prime Minister of India to give special status along with special category states.
It is clearly evident from struggling ongoing projects since decades in KBK region such as Lanjigarh road – Junagarh and Balangir – Khordha road lines.

In last couple of years, Indian Railway has committed 50,000 crore investment only in Bihar for various ongoing and new projects, whereas Orissa, especially KBK, is being continuously neglected since decades by Indian Railway.

On the other hand, national politicians have often used backwardness of Kalahandi to show case their eagerness towards the poor people in the society though they fail to scrutinise high rate of unemployment among semi-skilled and skilled laborer in the region.

Lanjigarh road is located in the border of Kandhamal, Rayagada and Kalahandi. A factory based on engineering in Lanjigarh road/Bhawanipatna will enormously benefit Kalahandi, Rayagada, Kandhamal, Boudh, Nuapada, Balangir, Koraput, Nabarangpur, Gajpati, Sonepur and Malkangiri equally, as it is centrally located to all the districts.

Similarly, a new East Coast railway division in Lanjigarh road/Bhawanipatna will help to speed up the railway projects in Kalahandi, Rayagada, Kandhamal, Boudh, Nuapada, Balangir, Koraput, Nabarangpur, Gajpati, Sonepur and Malkangiri districts many of which are poorly connected by Indian railway.

I urge the government to specially consider railway project in -

KBK region as national project

Accomplish Lanjigarh road – Jungarh line completely in coming financial year
Complete Khordha road – Balangir line in 11th plan
Immediately approve Lanjigarh road – Phulbani – Angul line
Approve Junagarh – Nabarangpur – Jeypur – Malkangiri – Balachandar road line
Approve Kantabanji – Khariar – Dharamgarh – Ampani – Nabarangpur – Jeypur line
Establish a coach factory in Bhawanipatna/Lanjigarh road/Junagarh region
Establish a new East Coast railway division in Lanjigarh road/Bhawanipatna for railway development especially in KBK-Kandhamal-Boudh region.

NRI seeks rail infrastructure in Orissa’s backward region

2009-02-01T01:11:00.000-08:00

Thaiindian.com, Jan 31, 2009
January 31st, 2009 - 4:05 pm ICT by IANS - Send to a friend:

Bhubaneswar, Jan 31 (IANS) An Oriya NRI based in Lebanon has urged the government to develop railway infrastructure in Orissa’s most backward districts to ensure the economic prosperity of the region.The Kalahandi-Balangir-Koraput (KBK) region, known for its economic backwardness, has been neglected by the central government for years, Digambara Patra, an Oriya academic based in Beirut, told IANS in an email.

Patra said he had Friday written letters to President Pratibha Patil, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Orissa Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik stressing the need for developing a railway network in the region.

“Railway infrastructure development is one of the keys to success and can bring economic prosperity to such a backward region,” Patra, who works as an assistant professor at the department of chemistry in the American University in Beirut, wrote in the email.

“Unfortunately, in railway development, the Kalahandi-Balangir-Koraput region is being neglected…In the last couple of years, Indian Railways has committed Rs.50,000 crore (Rs.500 billion) investment only in Bihar for various ongoing and new projects, but it has neglected Orissa, especially the KBK areas,” Patra said.

He pointed out that the central government had in the past has established a Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) project in Sunabeda, Koraput and an ordinance factory in Balangir and both had increased the employment potential in the regions. But the neighbouring Kalahandi region has not been considered for any major industrial project, Patra said.

He added that “setting up a new East Coast railway division in the region would help speed up railway projects in the impoverished western and southern Orissa, which are poorly connected by railways”.

CM writes to PM, Lalu, demands Rs 1,520 crore rail package

2009-01-17T11:13:00.000-08:00

The Pioneer, Jan 18, 2009
Pioneer News Service | Bhubaneswar

Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Saturday wrote letters to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Railway Minister Lalu Prasad urging them to take steps for establishing a rail coach factory in the State. Patnaik also mentioned how the State has been a subject of negligence in the hand of the Centre over the years.

Seeking a Rs 1,520-crore package for an overall development of railway network in the coming Railway Budget-2009-10, Patnaik pointed out that the railway route length and rail density in the State was well below the national average as also substantially lower than that in the neighbouring States like West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh and Bihar. The package demanded timely completion of the ongoing projects, sanctioning of new lines, undertaking surveys for new projects and improving passenger amenities at stations.

Mentioning how Orissa generated maximum revenue for the Railways, Patnaik said the earning should be spent on expansion and augmentation of rail network here. "Railways should ensure allocation of sizeable part of the revenue generated from Orissa within the State for expanding and augmenting rail network," he stated, adding that efforts should be made in connecting the KBK districts with rail connection. "KBK projects may be categorised as national projects," Patnaik added. It may be noted that railway aims to earn Rs 5,000 crore from Orissa in the coming financial year.

Patnaik also pointed out that the proposed rail coach factory could take advantage of steel and aluminum projects in Orissa. "The plant may be put up in one of the backward districts," he said, adding that establishment of a rail coach factory in backward district could foster the growth socio-economic growth and able to generate a large number of employment. Earlier, the railway authorities had announced two coach factories would be established one each at Bihar and Uttar Pradesh.He also mentioned about the Bhadrachalam Road (Andhra Pradesh)- Malkangiri- Jeypore-Junagarh- Lanjigarh road- Talcher- Bimalagarh, Khurad- Bolangir, Bhumara- Chakula and Banspani- Barbil rail lines.

Patnaik also demanded for doubling works of Daitari- Banspani, Talcher- Sambalpur and Haridaspur- Paradeep, Cuttack- Barang and Rajatgarh- Barang rail link. Patanik also demanded for a Satabdi Express from Puri to Paradip and another express train from Hoawarh/Salimar to Paradeep. "A Jan Shatabdi Express between Bhubaneswar and Rourkela is very much required," Patnaik said, adding that a new train service from Puri to Pune via Sambalpur via Titlagarh has also become essential and Bhubaneswar-Keonjhar express needs to be extended to Jamshedpur via Bansapani. Patnaik also demanded increasing of the frequency of a number of trains.

Orissa asks for a coach factory

2009-01-17T04:07:00.000-08:00

Hindu Business Line, Jan 17, 2009

BHUBANESWAR: Seeking establishment of a rail coach factory in the state, Orissa government on Saturday asked the Centre to implement a Rs 1520 crore package for overall development of railway network here, official sources said.

In separate letters to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Railway minister Lalu Prasad, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik said the state remained neglected in terms of railway network.

“Railway route length and rail density in Orissa is well below the national average as also substantially lower than that in neighbouring states like West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh and Bihar,'' Patnaik stated in the letters seeking a sizeable allocation in the coming railway budget for the state.

Reminding the Centre that Orissa generated maximum revenue for the railways, Patnaik said the earning should be spent in expansion and augmentation of rail network here. Stating that the proposed rail coach factory could take advantage of steel and alum inium projects in Orissa, Patnaik said that the plant might be considered in one of the backward districts.

“Establishing a rail coach factory in backward district could become the key driver of regional socio-economic growth while generating a large number of employment,'' he said.

It is understood that two such factories were announced at Bihar and Uttar Pradesh. One such unit in Orissa would address regional imbalance, he said. - PTI

Lack of rail network in K’mal may have led to violence

2009-01-16T04:39:00.000-08:00

The Pioneer, Jan 16, 2009
Er Lalit Patnaik | Bhubaneswar

For last few months Orissa has been in the news globally but for all wrong reasons. National and international media gave wide coverage to the recent violence in Kandhamal. But there was hardly any report that focussed on the causes that led to such a situation. Interestingly, most of the people missed out the fact that the lack of railways connectivity to this backward region could have been one of the reasons for violence in Kandhamal.

Poor tribals and other deprived sections of Kandhamal have been isolated from mainstream Orissa because of lack of railways connectivity. The district is a hilly region and does not have proper communication with neighbouring cities.

Interestingly, Railways have always played an important role in economic development and rapid social transformation across the globe, as it is a cheap mode to transport. Unfortunately, in a poor and backward State like Orissa, development of rail network has received very less attention of the Union Government ever since Independence. This is one of the main reason for the backwardness of tribals’ and other areas of the State.

The poor railway connectivity continues to keep them backward and deprive them of catching up with the mainstream. Due to lack of connectivity, the tribals cannot intermingle with the outside world and hence, their social transformation failed to take place. Also, their products cannot be transported easily to city markets and they are forced to dispose goods at throwaway prices in the local markets. As a result, traders come to Kandhamal and take away things at very less price.

In Kandhamal, the populations of tribals and SCs are 51.51 per cent and 18.21 per cent, respectively. Therefore, the demand for railway line connecting Lanjigarah, Phulbani and Angul that would bisect Kandhamal region and also the upcoming Khurda-Balangir rail link to serve as a bypass between Bhubaneswar and Koraput region is gaining momentum. People in Kandhamal are eagerly waiting for the proposed rail links. The rate of return (RoR) from this rail link will be more than 14 per cent, which is required by the Railway Board to sanction a new line. The rail link will shorten the distance between the coalmines in Angul district and bauxite mines in Koraput district by more than 100 km.

Aluminum major Nalco at Angul transports coal to its refinery plant in Koraput and brings back alumina to Angul. So, this reduction in distance will also save time in transportation and enhance the rate of return. Other aluminum companies like RSB, Vedanta and Hindalco will follow suit and the new line via Kandhamal will earn more than 20 per cent RoR.

Besides transportation by major industries, other commodities to Rayagada, Koraput, Malkangiri, Kalahandi and Nuapada districts will also pass through this line via Khurda as it will be shorter by more than 200 km vis-a-vis the existing rail link passing through Andhra Pradesh.

As for a blueprint on railway network expansion in Orissa, Prof Chitta Baral of the US-based Arizona University has done an extensive as well as intensive study on the subject. He has been educating policy makers and public in general on the importance of a good railway network. He has documented the current railway scenario in the State for preparing the blueprint for its expansion. According to him, the country's transport map clearly shows that Orissa has a very low rail density vis-a-vis other States and a majority of this low density region in the State is located in KBK and Kandhamal districts.

The question arises why rail connectivity is important for any region. The Planning Commission addresses this as follows: Railways have always played an important role in economic development and rapid social transformation all over the globe. It is one of the key economic infrastructures. However, it is most unfortunate that in a poor and backward State like Orissa, there is very less development of rail networks due to apathy of the Central Government since Independence. There are as many as seven districts, Boudh, Kandhamal, Deogarh, Nayagarh, Kendrapara, Malkangiri and Nabarangpur, which do not have a railway line passing through them. In 1998-99, the density of railway line length per 1,000 sq km of area in Orissa was only 15.03 km as against 42.66 km in West Bengal and an average of 19.11 km in the whole country.

Consistent with the above report, the KBK and Kandhamal districts are among the most backward districts of the country. They are also Maoist-infested, have high tribal populations and lack proper connectivity. In essence, they are another frontier of India like Jammu and Kashmir and the North-East. It is very unfortunate. So why the Indian Railways is still apathetic in establishing connectivity to KBK and Kandhamal even after knowing the above facts is difficult to understand. The railway authorities often cite the profitability issue. But if it can lay unprofitable lines in J&K and the North-East and plan to convert gauges of over 12,000 km of loss-making routes, why is it turning a deaf ear to persistent pleas of the people of Orissa for establishing rail links in this backward region?

It is a well-known fact that the Indian Railways is making huge profit from its cargo operations in Orissa.

Civil Society favor K'mal rail

2009-01-09T05:43:00.000-08:00

Tathya.in, Bhubaneswar:9/January/2009

Civil Society of Orissa will demand railway connectivity to Kandhamal.

So the members of the Civil Society will stage dharana in front of the Orissa East Coast Railways (ECOR) headquarters here on 3 February.

They will also present a detailed picture of the continuous neglect and step motherly attitude of the Indian Railways to Orissa

It seems that they have lost high hopes pinned on Kalyan Coomar Jena.

People from all walks of life in Orissa were very happy as Mr.Jena took over reins of Indian Railways.

Least said is better about the Chairman of Railway Board, said many members of the Civil Society.

During Jena’s tenure, Bihar got the maximum and Orissa as usual suffered a lot.

There are only cosmetic changes and lollypops for Orissa, lamented they.

So the leading members of the Civil Society are furious with the Indian Railways authorities.

They have decided to vent anger in public in a peaceful way on 3 February here.

Their main demand is to connect Kandhamal with railways network.

People from all walks of life participated in the meeting held here on 7 January and they voiced the demand for new rail line in Kandhamal.

They were unanimous over the issue as they felt that once the connectivity will be there, the problem will eased.

Professor Chitta Baral, leading voice of NROs gave out details how Orissa has been neglected during Lalu Prasad Yadav regime when Mr.Jena is the Chairman of the Board.

Among others Braja Kishore Tripathy, MP, Sibaji Pattnaik, former MP, Dhananda Mishra, Narendra Mishra, Sudarsan Das also raised pertinent issues.

Engineer BC Praharaj, Ajaya Pattnaik, Bimal Mishra,Rajesh Mishra and SN Mishra pointed out the requirement of the state so far railways infrastructure is concerned.

Political personalities including Sura Jena, Biswanath Mohapatra,Tapasi Praharaj, Deba Parija, Bikram Swain vented their ire against the authorities.

Social activists like Tusar ray, Sashiprabha Bindhani, Madhu Bhai, Manoj Jena, Abhaya Singh, Pradipta Pradhan, Dillip Sabat also spoke on the occasion.

More than 70 members of the Civil Society and at least 20 from Kandhamal participated in the brain storming.

ECOR was represented by TK Joshi and Sanjay Mishra.

Civil Society has decided to organize a meeting prior to 3 February in Kandhamal to raise awareness.

It has been decided to publicize a composite document on Rail neglect in Orissa.

The meeting was organized by Agami Odisha, Swabhiman Odisha Munch, Loksamukhya and Focus Orissa.

All Participant organizations almost vowed to make the people of Orissa aware about Railway neglect and fight for the Railway infrastructural development in Orissa.

Er.Lalit Mohan Pattnaik of Agami Orissa coordinated the meeting.

Memo to Central team demands railway linkage to Kandhamal

2008-11-20T02:14:00.000-08:00

The Pioneer, Nov 20, 2008
PNS | Bhubaneswar

The Agami Odisha, the Swabhiman Manch and the Lok Sammukhya on Wednesday jointly submitted a memorandum to the Central Ministerial team, led by Sharad Pawer, demanding railway linkage to the tribal Kandhamal district.

On behalf of the organisations, coordinator Lalit Mohan Pattnaik and joint coordinator Bikram Swain said that due to lack of connectivity, the locals cannot intermingle with outside people and hence social transformation of the tribal communities in the district cannot take place. Further, their products could not be transported outside and hence they got less value for their products, which were looted by the outside traders at much less market price, they added.

A rail line connecting Lanjigarh to Phulbani to Angul would bisect Kandhamal and upcoming Khurda-Balangir rail line and it would serve as a bypass link between Bhubaneswar to Koraput zone, they said adding that the rate of return from this railway stretch would be much more than 14 %, which is required by the Railway Board to sanction a new rail line.

House panel to meet Lalu in Nov

2008-10-31T01:02:00.000-07:00

The Pioneer, Oct 31, 2008

The House Committee of the State Legislative Assembly on Railway will call on Railway Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav on the second week of November and submit a memorandum for development and possible expansion of railway network in the State. A decision to this effect was taken at a high-level meeting presided over by the Assembly Speaker Kishore Mohanty on Thursday.

Speaker Mohanty asked the MLAs to submit proposal within a week on the possible development of railway which can be taken up in their constituency. “Later, a final memorandum would be prepared and submitted to the Railway Minister,” said Transport and Commerce Minister Jaynarayan Mishra.

The MLAs criticised the Centre for decrease in allotment of funds for expansion of railway networks. Though the State Government urged the Centre to take up a number of projects, not a single project has been approved. Gopalpur- Raygada, Jajpur- Keonjhar Road- Jajpur town, Sambalpur- Berhampur, Bolangir- Nuapada, Bansapani- Bimalagarha, Lanjigarha- Boudh, Barbil- Bansapani have been neglected in the railway budget.

The doubling of railway lines like Daitari-Bansapani, Haridaspur, Paradeep, Talcher- Samablpur, Smabalpur-Jharsuguda have also been neglected.

KBK situation is still miserable

2008-10-26T16:43:00.000-07:00

BHUBANESWAR, Oct 26: Two decades of focused intervention, entailing pumping in crores of rupees, seems to have had little impact on the notoriously backward KBK region (erstwhile undivided Koraput-Bolangir-Kalahandi districts) according to the Food Security Atlas released by World Food Programme and Institute for Human Development.
"It is surprising that the efforts put into the development of the region have not yielded tangible results," states the report, while dealing with KBK region and noting that widespread malnutrition and mortality levels are a pointer to the dismal situation.
The region is characterised by wastelands, scrublands, low agriculture development, abysmally low literacy levels and high malnutrition levels.
The KBK region accounts for 31 per cent of the total area of the state, but only 20 per cent of the total population indicating low density of population. A huge part of the region is unfit for cultivation and is mostly degraded forests and scrublands. Koraput, for instances, has more than 1,000 sq kms of its area under wastelands.
Low levels of land development in the region have resulted in poor performance on the agricultural front. Despite all talk of wasteland development, the fact is that the region has not benefited from the programme as yet.
Consequent to this is the fact that very small area can be cultivated twice in an agricultural year and the cropping intensity is low. Only 19 per cent of the total area of Rayagada district is under cultivation while it is barely 20 per cent in Malkangiri district, 35 per cent in Koraput, 37 per cent in Bolangir and 41 percent in Kalahandi. The KBK average works out to 35.5 per cent in terms of area under cultivation.
The food grain yield per heactre in KBK region is 590 kg with the yield per hectare in some districts like Nuapada being as low as 221 kg, Bolangir 302 kg and Kalahandi 491 kg said the report.
Less than five per cent of the surveyed tribal population were found to be in a food secure situation in these districts. The proportion of extremely food insecure tribal households that can hardly manage one square meal a day is highest in Rayagada district at almost 12 per cent of the tribal population being unable to get one meal per day for major part of the year. Five of the eight districts in the region have a less than 10 per cent urbanisation level and these districts have a very high proportion of STs, almost twice the proportion of tribes in other parts of the state.
Other parameters too show that KBK is lagging behind the rest of the state. Koraput, Nawarangpur, Malkangiri and Rayagada have a rural female literacy rate of less than 20 per cent. The food insecurity status of the region manifests itself in high mortality and malnourishment. Most of the districts in the region record over 150 child deaths per 1000 live births and over 40 percent of the children are in the moderately underweight category.
Shockingly, the situation prevailing in KBK region is despite special interventions in the form of Area Development for Poverty Termination (ADAPT) in 1988 followed by the Long Term Action Plan ( LTAP) in 1993 and the Revised Long Term Action Plan ( RLTAP) in 1998. Each of these schemes involved expenditure of crores of rupees towards overall improvement of the region, feeding programmes, water harvesting etc.

From Hindu: Maoist activity surpasses militancy in J&K, northeast - news analysis

2008-10-25T15:38:00.001-07:00

This is exactly why the central govt. needs to pay special attention towards the development of theses interior frontier of Orissa, Chhatisgarh and Andhra Pradesh.

Following is the Hindu article:

Maoist activity surpasses militancy in J&K, northeast news analysis K. Srinivas Reddy

HYDERABAD: Union Home Minister Shivraj Patil might want the country to believe that Left-wing extremism is not a big challenge to the internal security of the country, but his Ministry has now ‘unwittingly’ declared statistics which reveal that the Maoist activity had actually surpassed militancy in the north-eastern States and in Jammu and Kashmir in terms of killings of civilians and security forces personnel.

Status paper

The latest status paper on the ‘Internal Security Situation’ discloses that as many as 2,281 civilians and 821 security forces personnel were killed between 2004 and 2008 (up to August 31) due to Maoist activity.

The comparative figures for the same period show that militancy in Jammu and Kashmir resulted in the killing of 1,883 civilians and 789 security forces personnel. The militancy-related fatalities in the north-east were 1,909 civilians and 361 security forces personnel.

It was none other than Prime Minister Manmohan Singh who cautioned the States — in December 2007 at a conclave on internal security — that Maoist insurgency was the single biggest challenge to security.

Just about two months later, Mr. Patil disagreed with Dr. Singh and said the Left-wing extremism did not pose such a danger to internal security.

Answering a question in the “Devil’s Advocate” programme on CNN-IBN, Mr. Patil argued that there was no need to create a fear psychosis among the people about the Maoist insurgency. Playing on words, the Home Minister pointed out: “If one said 10 States were affected, it would mean 30 per cent of the country. If one went by 130 districts affected, it would mean 25 per cent. But if one took into account the number of police stations, it would give a picture of only three per cent.”

And now the Ministry status paper points out that the Maoist violence has become extremely intense in Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and Orissa.

“Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand accounted for 68.07 per cent of the total incidents and 58.56 per cent of total casualties.”

The Ministry puts it on record that the Maoist activity is present in Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Maharashtra, Orissa and West Bengal.

However, intelligence officials unofficially admit there is widespread consolidation of Maoists across the country.

Coverage in Prerana on visit of Railway Board Chairman to Balangir

2008-10-21T09:04:00.001-07:00

Initiative by Lalit Babu for Lanjigarh road - Phulbani-Angul Railway Link

2008-10-21T09:03:00.001-07:00

Yesterday in an Action Plan for Khandhamal, I proposed our Rail Line demand for growth of Khandhamal to be included. The rail line should connect Lanjigarah Station to Angul via Phulbani that will almost bisect Khandhamal District. The chairman Dr Bhagaban & Prof Radhamohan appreciated the proposal but there were very few in public who could fully visualise the would be impact of our demand in peace making process.

In the mean time many a reporter and public of Bolangir region have telephoned me and have highly appriciated our proposal about Khandhamal that came out in a local news paper after our meeting at Bolangir. ........................

Yours,
Lalit Mohan Pattnaik

Basudev Jee, Sibaji Babu & Lalit Babuf while boarding the train at Bolangir

2008-10-07T01:28:00.000-07:00

Source: Er Lalit Pattnaik

Lalit Babu, Sibaji babu & Basudev Babu in Circuit House Bolangir after the meeting

2008-10-07T01:26:00.000-07:00

Source: Er Lalit Pattnaik

MP Basudev Acharee addressing Joint Action Committee, while Sibaji babu is looking on at Bolangir on 5th Oct'08

2008-10-07T01:20:00.000-07:00

Source: Er Lalit Pattnaik

Set deadline for Khurda-Balangir rly line: Acharya

2008-10-06T12:07:00.000-07:00

The Pioneer, Oct 7, 2008
Pioneer News Service | Balangir

The construction of proposed Khurda-Balangir railway line, which was approved in 1993 at an estimated cost of Rs 383 crore, is still in its infancy, said chairman of Standing Committee of Railway and MP Basudev Acharya while speaking to mediapersons on Sunday.

Once a target date is fixed for the project by the Railway Department, it would ensure regular flow of fund till completion, he said, adding that Rs 64 crore has been allocated for the project in 2007.

He also assured to take necessary steps so that the total allocation of funds for development of Railways in the State can be increased substantially.

Due to absence of repair unit in the State, wagons are being sent to Khargarpur for repair, he said, adding that a wagon repair unit needs to be established in the State.

Accompanied by Left leader Shivaji Patanaik, Acharya talked to the members of the Citizen Committees of Balangir and the Joint Action Committee for Khurdha-Balangir Railway line. Bhavani Shankar Satpathy and Ramesh Prasad Naik were also present.

Roll back rail profit; NROs

2008-08-18T05:12:00.000-07:00

Tathya, Aug 15, 2008
Bhubaneswar:15/August/2008

Now every body has coolly forgotten about the Ministry of Railways’s continued apathetic attitude towards Orissa.

From the Chief Minister to the Member of Parliament (MP) used to be raging war against the Centre maintaining cool cool attitude, alleges leading Non Resident Oriyas (NRO).

While the Indian Railway Board Chairman is working overtime for the projects in Bihar to be completed in time, the officials are boasting for a whopping Rs.52, 000 crore investment in Bihar by 2011!!!

Media reports say that all the railway projects in Bihar stipulating an investment of Rs 52,000 crore, would be completed by 2011, Girish Bhatnagar, General Manager of East Central Railway (ECR) said recently.

The wheel and axle plant at Chapra, in the parliamentary constituency of Railway minister Lalu Prasad, would commence commercial production within 18 months, he said.

Adding the process of land acquisition for the Diesel Engine plant at Marhowrah and Electric Locomotive workshop at Madhepura was going on full steam, revealed the GM.

Mr. Bhatnagar informed that he had meeting with Chief Minister recently seeking acquisition of required land for railway projects.

Nitish Kumar has issued necessary instructions to the concerned state officials engaged in the task.

Mr.Bhatnagar said while expressing satisfaction over Chief Minister's positive response.

"Both the projects are being executed taking into account the size of estimated traffic by 2050 and would be completed on public-private participation," he said.

While Bihar is fully geared up for the railway expansion, Orissa is in deep slumber, alleged Chitta Baral.

Prof. Baral said that “We have been urging the Chief Minister and the MPs to make the case that all the Orissa projects should also be finished by the end of the 11th plan; but to no avail.

The irony is that to finish the scheduled Orissa projects, no extra money is needed.

It is estimated that Indian Railway will make about 2,800 crore/year profit from Orissa which in 5 years will be Rs.14,000 crores.

The link has all the details: http://www.kbkrail.orissalinks.com/

so if we demand the entire profit to be rolled back in Orissa than there is more than enough for the completion of the projects like Khurda Rd - Nayagarh – Balangir, Lanjigarh Rd - Junagarh - Nabrangpur - Jeypore - Malkangiri - Bhadrachalam Rd , Raygada – Gopalpur, Naupada- Gunupur – Theruvali, Talcher - Bimlagarh and Baripada-Bangiriposi – Chakulia.

All these projects add up to only Rs. 5300 crores.

So if Bihar can aim and achieve the spending of 52,000 crores by 2011, why can not Orissa just ask that profit from Orissa be put in Orissa for the duration of the 11th plan ?, asked Dhirendra Kar, another concerned NRO

Mr. Kar is of view that when we are referring to connectivity to the most backward areas of the country, this should have been harped by the leaders of the state.

With only Rs. 5300 crore out of Rs. 14000 crore spent in the above projects the following railway lines can be taken up in Public –Private-Partnership (PPP) mode costing very little to the Railways- about Rs.1700 crores, revealed Digambara Mishra.

Professor Mishra suggested that Haridaspur – Paradeep, Angul – Sukinda, Bhadrakh – Dhamara and Rupsa – Kirtania can be taken up on PPP mode.

Digambara Patra, leading NRO said that after that Orissa will have another Rs. 7000 crores and it can target lines Lanjigarh Rd - Phulbani – Talcher, Lanjigarh Road – Gopalpur, Phulabni-Berhampur.

Prof.Patra added that Phulbani-Berhampur, Nawapara Road- Bargarh, Talcher-Hindol Road-Gopalpur, Khurda-Naraj Circular Road and Barang-Astaranga railway connectivity can be taken care of with the profits

Only the state has to force the Indian Railways Board for the East Coast Railways (ECOR) profit to be rolled back in Orissa and we are not asking any alms, said Lalit Patnaik, Chief of Agami Orissa.

Deba Nayak, another leading NRO has also urged upon the Chief Minister to take up the issue and force the Centre for rail connectivity to all the 30 districts of Orissa.

Echoing his concern Sandip Das Verma, a leading voice among the NROs has said that connectivity to the worst poverty zones of the country will go in a long way to eliminate Maoist menace in Orissa.

While sitting thousands of miles away from the country the NROs are showing serious concern for their motherland, on the Independence Day almost all the Ministers are busy in making hallow promises to woo the people and forgotten the real issue hurting the state most.

Bereaucrat gets flak for Indian Railways' "Neglect of Orissa": India Abroad July 25, 2008

2008-08-01T00:39:00.000-07:00

Follow the link below for the article.
Page 1

Page 2

Jena lollypop for Orissa

2008-07-27T09:19:00.000-07:00

Tathya.in, July 27, 2008

Kalyan Coomar Jena knows that Oriyas are satisfied with small things.

So predictably the much hyped Orissa visit of the Indian Railway Board Chairman has yielded only lollypops, feel infrastructure experts.

Mr.Jena known for his bureaucratic mode of operations was happy to note that the State Government will form two committees to pursue the railways projects.

The Chief Minister, who being advised by his mandarins runs the show proposed for the committees to be headed by Chief Secretary.

The Chief Secretary is heading more than 50-plus committees and no body keeps track of the committees, said an insider.

Indian Railway will now have more excuses and can accuse the state more about this and that, feel leading NRO Professor Chitta Baral.

Also, the co-ordination committee, headed by the Chief Secretary itself will get influenced by the Bureaucracy of the Indian Railways, apprehend he.

Mr. Jena's statement on Khurda Rd - Nayagarh - Balangir line is very wishy-washy.

What is needed that a firm commitment from Indian Railways that this line will be completed during the Eleventh plan.

Nothing was said about Talcher - Bimlagarh line which would bring areas in the tribal district of Sundergarh closer to the capital and make Rourkela and Bhubaneswar much closer.

It seems, as always, we are sacrificing the interests of the adivasis and backward areas of KBK districts.

With the recent Maoist mayhem in those areas, the state government should have demanded fast track connectivity to the areas of Gajapati-Rayagada-Malakngiri-Nabarangpur.

Out of box thinking is needed now, said an infrastructure consultant.

As the Chairman Railway Board said that investors are unwilling to invest at Barang to develop it as a World class railway station, which raises doubt in the minds of the people of Orissa.

Few days ago the experts of Chinese delegation visited Barang and rejected the idea to develop it as a world class station.

Now the Railway Board Chairman says the investors are not willing to invest.

The moot question is when the Railway Board invited proposals from the investors through an international bidding asked an expert.

No such steps were taken by the Railway Board, said he.

Then how come the Chairman says the investors are not willing to fund the same.

The State Government, which is more influenced by the bureaucracy can not dream big, so we will have only pea nuts, lamented an insider.

He said Orissa is now having huge investments on IIT, NISER and 2 World Class Universities.

Have ever the bureaucrats dreamt about it; never.

It is only the civil society and leading NROs raised the voice for which Orissa achieved the unbelievable in the higher education sector.

Similarly the rail connectivity issue has to be harped repeatedly at the level of Prime Minister and Planning Commission level, which will yield positive results, said he.

Setting up a committee or two will not yield big results, feel the experts.

Again in Bihar: 930 crore and 625 crore rail cum road bridges

2008-07-27T08:04:00.000-07:00

SOME MAJOR BRIDGES UNDER EXECUTION IN EAST CENTRAL RAILWAYS

Ganga Railway Bridge at Digha in Patna is expected to be ready by 2007 at an estimated cost of Rs. 625 crore. The total length of this bridge including approach would be 20 km and the length of the main bridge between Digha and Pahleja Ghat would be 4.925 Km. As there is no rail link between North and South Bihar this project was taken up to face that traffic. Rail link is available only at Mokama at a distance of 93 km downstream of Patna. This new bridge between Digha and Pahleza is an useful infrastructure to improve trade and industries in that backward area.

RAIL CUM ROAD BRIDGE AT MUNGER

Ganges is a holy river where millions of Hindus throng to take bath and shed their sins as per Hindu belief. So it is an important pilgrim centre for one and all. A rail cum road bridge on Ganges near Munger has been taken up at a cost of Rs.930 crore. This 3.19 Km long bridge is 55 Kms down stream of the existing rail cum road bridge at Mokama and 68 Kms Upstream of the road bridge at Bhagalpur on river Ganges.

This magnificent bridge will connect NH31 of North Bihar to NH-80 of south Bihar and will also connect Jamalpur station of Sahibang Loop line (Malda division) of Eastern Railway to Barauni Katihar section on Sonepur division of East Central Railway. This mega bridge will support several lakh passengers from 2009 onwards.

Fast track panel constituted to expedite railway projects in Orissa

2008-07-25T22:44:00.000-07:00

The Pioneer, July 26, 2008
Pioneer News Service | Bhubaneswar

In a significant decision, the State Government and railway authorities have decided to form a fast track committee under the chairmanship of the Chief Secretary to supervise the works of different ongoing rail projects in the State and expedite the works.

A decision to this effect was taken at a high-level meeting between Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik and Railway Board chairman Kalyan Coomar Jena. Jena called on Patnaik at the State Secretariat. Both railway and State Government officials would be included as members of the committee.

It was decided that all efforts would be taken to build a world class railway station at Bhubaneswar. The Fast Track committee constituted under the Chief Secretary would supervise the works of the railway station also. ":The work will be completed in a time bound manner," said Jena. Sources said efforts would be taken to complete the railway station within three months. Hostels and malls would be set up. Railway authorities have identified 100 acres of land for this purpose between Manheswar and Lingaraj railway station. The hotels and malls would be set on a Public-Private-Partnership (PPP) mode.

Discussions were also held on regarding the progress on Haridaspur- Paradip, Khurda-Balangir, Lanjigarha-Junagarh and Doupada-Gunupur rail lines.

Chief Secretary Ajit Kumar Tripathy, Secretary Transport and Commerce Suresh Chandra Mohapatra, Principal Secretary to Chief Minister Bijoy Kumar Pattnaik and other senior officials from the railways attended the meeting.

Railways to set up three more factories: again Bihar gets two

2008-07-25T07:55:00.000-07:00

The New Indian Express, July 25, 2008

TIRUCHY: Three new railway factories would be established in the current year, said Raj Kamal Rao, Member Mechanical, Railway Board, here on Wednesday.

Speaking to journalists after flagging off locos and passenger cars for Tanzanian Railway Ltd at Ponmalai workshop, Rao said that in the last four years, the Indian Railways had seen an unprecedented growth both in freight and passenger traffic - 60 million tonnes of freight and 12 per cent growth in passenger traffic.

Taking pride in the Ponmalai unit as one of the most efficient workshops in India, Rao said 8000 wagons were manufactured every year which had at present increased to 15,000. “In the current year it was proposed to manufacture 20,000 wagons among which 800 would be built at Ponmalai and this would be increased upto 1000”, he said.

Stating that three new factories would be established - one in Rae Bareli for coaches, another at Chabra in Bihar for diesel locomotives and the third at Madhapura in Bihar for electric locomotives.

Chief Mechanical Engineer V Carmalius, DRM S Subramanian, Chief Workshop Manager S Rangarajan and others were present.

NOTE: Bihar gets more than 3 railway factories and Orissa gets none during this Government

Railway Board to review Orissa projects in Delhi

2008-07-18T05:59:00.001-07:00

The Pioneer, July 18, 2008
Pioneer News Service | Bhubaneswar

With an emphasis on railway projects in Orissa, a very high-level review will be conducted by Chairman of the Railway Board Kalyan Coomar Jena and other member of the Board on the status of the projects under the East Coast Railway (ECoR) jurisdiction.

ECoR General Manager Ajay Kumar Goyal left for New Delhi to make a presentation on the ongoing projects. He will make a special emphasis on early completion of all important sanctioned project works. The discussion will centre on better rail connectivity and completion of the projects, according to an official release here on Thursday.

Goyal will pitch for evolvement of a new policy which would help expedite the sanctioned project works. Meanwhile, discussions were held by ECoR General Manager with State Chief Secretary Ajit Kumar Tripathy on early completion of infrastructure and other rail projects.

Goyal would refer to these issues during his talks with the Railway Board members and Railway Ministry officials in Delhi, said the release.

CM visits Delhi over rail projects

2008-07-17T23:11:00.000-07:00

The Statesman, July 18, 2008
Statesman News Service

BHUBANESWAR, July 17: Chief minister Mr Naveen Patnaik, who is in New Delhi for a two-day tour, called on railway board chairman Mr Kalyan Coomar Jena today and discussed about various railway projects in the state.
The chief minister emphasised on the need for expansion and augmentation of railway infrastructure in the state.
“As the state is on the threshold of a major industrial upsurge, this will necessitate laying of new railway links and bulk cargo handling and hence, there is an urgent need for development of railway infrastructure,” the chief minister pointed out.
Mr Patnaik rued over the fact that the railway route length in the state is well below the national average and also much less than the neighbouring states.
Referring to the pending Khurda Road-Bolangir line, the chief minister said that there has been very little progress in the project. Only Rs 32 crore have been sanctioned during the current financial year, the chief minister pointed out and stressed for increased allocation for the crucial project.
Maintaining that the KBK districts have a high percentage of tribal population, he stressed on the need for sanction of Jeypore-Malkangiri (117 km) line for which survey has already been completed. The advent of railways would lead to socio-economic development of the region, the chief minister felt.
"The state government has entered into MoUs for setting up of two alumina plants in that region and in that context, Lanjigarh Road- Junagarh new BG railway link assumes immense importance," the chief minister said while stressing on early commissioning of Lanjigaarh-Bhawaniptna section.
The government is committed for development of Gopalpur, Dhamra and Subarnarekha mouth (Kirtania) ports into all-weather ports along the coast line, the CM reiterated and emphasised on the railway lines connecting Rupsa-Burhamara to Chakulia (50km), Nuapada-Gunupua BG rail link to Theruvali (79km) and Bansapani-Barbil for which preliminary surveys have been completed. While underlining the need for expeditiously completing the residual work on Daitari-Banspani BG rail link, he suggested introduction of an intercity express between Bhubaneswar and Jamsedpur via Keonjhar. He further suggested for early commissioning of Cuttack-Barang doubling. The chief minister pressed upon the need to consider increased allocation of funds to ensure speedy execution of the sanctioned projects and also sanctioning of new projects.
Expressing happiness over identification of Bhubaneswar as one of the locations for a world class railway station, Mr Patnaik emphasised the need for introduction of new trains, extension and increase in frequency of mail and express trains, improved passenger amenities at the stations. “Although four new trains and one extension were announced in this railway budget, they have not yet been introduced,” Mr Patnaik drew Mr Jena’s attention.
The chief minister also expressed interest for early normalisation of Balsore-Kharagpur section and restoration of normal coaching services as 19 trains will stand cancelled because of the breach of railway track between Contai Road and Bakhrabad in the recent floods.
The railway chairman Mr Jena informed the chief minister that Puri-Keonjhargarh train services will be introduced before October this year. This apart, the other project works highlighted by the chief minister would soon be expedited, Mr Jena assured.
East Coast Railway general manager Mr AK Goyal, who was present at the meeting, suggested for evolvement of a new policy which would help in expediting the sanctioned works.

Similar article published in Orissgovt site

Rail Board chairman to meet Naveen today

2008-07-17T00:51:00.000-07:00

The Pioneer, July 17, 2008
Pioneer News Service | Bhubaneswar

Rail Board Chairman Kalyan Coomar Jena will meet Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik at Orissa Niwas in New Delhi on Thursday. During the meeting, Patnaik would draw the attention of the chairman towards how the State has been neglected by the Railway authorities.

He would also urge the chairman to take steps to expedite the works of the ongoing rail projects in the State.

The projects like Khurda Road -Nayagarh - Balangir, Talcher - Bimlagarh, Naupada-Gunupur- Theruvali, Lanjigarh Road -Bhawanipatna -Junagarh-Nabarangpur-Jeypore - Malkangiri - Bhadramchalam - Bhadrachalam Road, Buramara - Chakulia and Bangiriposi - Gurumahisani-Keonjhar would come up for discussion during the meeting. Patnaik would also urge Jena to take up steps in expanding the rail network in the Maoist-affected areas of the State. He is also likely to draw the attention of the chairman towards the disruption of rail service between Orissa and West Bengal through Balasore.

The whole rail network has been badly hit after the recent flood that wrought havoc in north Orissa. Though a number of days have passed, the rail authorities are yet to restore the rail service fully between Howrah and Puri.

Non-resident Oriyas rue Railway Board chief's attitude towards Orissa projects

2008-07-15T23:27:00.000-07:00

The Pioneer, July 16, 2008
Pioneer News Service | Bhubaneswar

Non-resident Oriyas (NROs) are quite unhappy over the railway authorities' attitude towards the long-delayed projects in Orissa, including the Khurda Road -Balangir rail line.

Railway Board chairman Kalyan Coomar Jena, who hails from Orissa, was invited to the convention of the Orissa Society of Americas (OSA) recently held in Toronto in North America. Jena dismissed speeding up of the Khurda-Balangir project projects without significant contributions from the State Government on the plea that it is a social line.

The NROs repeatedly reminded Jena that the three zones operating in Orissa -- East Coast Railways (ECoR), South Eastern Railways (SER) and South Eastern Central Railways (SECR) -- are the highest profit-making zones, but Orissa and Chhattisgarh have the lowest railway densities.

The areas of concern are the connectivity to KBK districts and the other tribal districts of Orissa like Mayurbhanj, Keonjhar and Sundargarh, which are among the most backward areas in the country. The proposed rail lines include the Khurda Road -Nayagarh - Balangir, Talcher - Bimlagarh, Naupada-Gunupur- Theruvali, Lanjigarh Road -Bhawanipatna -Junagarh-Nabarangpur-Jeypore - Malkangiri - Bhadramchalam - Bhadrachalam Road, Buramara - Chakulia and Bangiriposi - Gurumahisani-Keonjhar.

The NROs pointed out that the minerals extracted and transported from those districts are the contributing factors in making these railway zones highly profitable. If only Indian Railways had listened to the plea of Orissa and completed the Khurda Road-Balangir line, which it started 15 years ago, and the line from Jeypore to Malkangiri and beyond, the Maoist mayhems in Nayagarh and Malkangiri would have been avoided.

Some participants at the meeting like Purna Mishra and Chitta Baral were armed with statistics from various IR publications and web sites to counter the arguments of Jena. They rubbished the contention that the Indian Railways was only going after profitable routes. Prof Baral pointed out that the IR priorities include gauge conversion of 12,000 km, most of which is not profitable.

What made some of the participants really sad that the Railway Board chairman did not even sympathise when pointed out that while huge profits are made by ECoR, SER and SECR, the big money of the 11th Plan is going to freight corridors, high-speed rail and metro rails, none of which benefits Orissa. The NROs were of the view that the Railway Board Chairman was pursuing a highly bureaucratic approach.

Jena repeated that he has Rs 1,000 crore for Orissa, and breaking that up to various projects leaves little for social projects like Khurda Road-Balangir.

It was pointed out to him that when ECoR is estimated to make Rs 3,600 crores of profit during 2008-09, he is talking about only Rs 1,000 crore.

In addition, the NROs demanded that the IR, the largest employer in the world, must make two production units in the backward and tribal areas of KBK so that it indeed gives a fair employment opportunity to the tribals.

Similar report in Tathya.in

Online move for rail network

2008-07-15T23:26:00.000-07:00

Tathya.in, July 7, 2008
Bhawanipatna:7/July/2008

Poor communication links of rail and road has resulted in expansion of Red Corridor in the tribal districts of Orissa, Andhra Pradesh and Chhatisgarh.

While most of the Maoist activities are centered round the KBK Region of the State, the ultras are expanding their tentacles to the nearby underdeveloped areas.

While Prime Minister Dr.Man Mohan Singh is dubbing the Red Menace as the “ most dangerous virus”, in deciding the connectivity plans for the country, case of KBK has been ignored time and again.

So under the leadership of Digambara Patra, a leading Non Resident Oriya (NRO), the intelligentsia of Orissa has taken up the cause of rail expansion in a big way.

An online signature campaign is underway to raise awareness on the issue of rail connectivity.

More than 60 have signed the online petition and many are joining the league.

Making a full fledged research on the subject, they have demanded for special treatment by the Indian Railway Board in declaring the Kalahandi-Balangir- Koraput (KBK) region in Orissa, other adjacent tribal regions of Andhra Pradesh and Chhatisgarh as a national project.

KBK is the poorest and most backward region in India.

While other backward regions in India like North Eastern States, J&K and Himachal Pradesh have received special treatment by Railway Board, KBK region has been neglected since decades, lamented Dr.Patra.

Naxal activities are predominantly high in the border regions of Orissa, Chhatisgarh and Andhra Pradesh due to poor communication and infrastructure, said he.

And recently it is spreading to other bordering and backward districts like Balangir, Nuapada and Kalahandi districts.

The railway infrastructure in Orissa and Chhatisgarh is substantially low compared to national average despite both the states are in the profit making zones, where as railway infrastructure in Bihar and West Bengal are remarkably high though they are the loss making zones.

East Coast zone and South Eastern zone covering Orissa state and South East Central zone covering Chhatisgarh are among top most profit making zones.

And large amount of profit made by Indian Railways comes from the transportation revenue from coal, ores and minerals for which both the states substantially contribute.

However, Indian railway has ignored KBK region of Orissa and Chhatisgarh since decades.

Indian Railway Board has always danced to the tune of the political bosses ignoring the genuine requirement of the states, lamented Madhusmita Panda, another online petitioner.

For example, Khordha Road – Balangir and Lanjigarh Road – Junagarh railway lines in Orissa which were approved much earlier than Muzaffarpur – Sitamari and Sultanganj-Deogarh lines in Bihar are still struggling to be completed, where as other two lines in Bihar are completed, said she.

Pratyusa Mandhata asked for uniformity in approving projects and said that during last 15 years, more railway lines were approved in Bihar, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and West Bengal than Orissa and Chhatisgarh.

In last 5 years Indian Railway has set up 3 factories in Bihar (loss making zone) and one in Kerala (another loss making zone), but none of the plants including the recently proposed power plant by Indian Railway, was being established in Orissa or Chhatisgarh, said Mr.Mandhata.

Sandip Dasvarma, leading NRO said that since decades less funds are allotted in the Railway Budgets to profit making zones like East Coast Railway (ECOR) and South East Central Railway (SECR), which is much lower than that of loss making zones.

The petitioners have requested the Orissa and Chhatisgarh Governments to provide land free of cost for railway development in the backward region.

And they have requested the Government of India is to declare all the railway projects in KBK and bordering regions in Chhatisgarh and Andhra Pradesh as national projects in the line of North Eastern states of India immediately.

They have demanded to complete Khordha road – Balangir railway line to connect the KBK region with state capital

Approval of Junagarh – Ambaguda line proposed under extension of Lanjigarh Road – Junagarh is needed.

Approval is requested for Bargarh – Padampur - Nuapada road - Kantabanji – Khariar- Ampani-Navarangur- Jeypore – Makangiri – Kottagudem (Andhra Pradesh) new line in the backward region, which would help to control Maoist menace by bringing development in the region

The petitioners have demanded to carry out new survey and approve Rajim (Chhatisgarh) – Gariaband (Chhatisgarh) – Deobhog (Chhatisgahr) – Junagarh – Lanjigarh road – Simanbadi (Kandhamal) – Asika- Berhampur – Gopalpur line to directly connect Raipur with Gopalpur port passing through one of the most backward regions of India.

They have also demanded that new survey of Dhamtari (Chhatisgarh) – Umarkote (Orissa) – Nabrangpur (Orissa) line, an alternative direct access to Gopalpur and Visakhapatnam ports from Raipur and other mining region in Chhatisgarh is to be developed.

Carrying out of fresh survey of the Simanbadi -Phulbani-Angul line is needed to benefit NALCO by further reducing the distance between Damanjodiand Angul, said the online petitioners.

Rs.4,000 cr. spent for railway works in TN

2008-07-02T23:27:00.000-07:00

The Hindu, Junly 3, 2008

SIVAGANGA: The Indian Railways had spent Rs.4,000 crore towards various projects undertaken in Tamil Nadu during the last four years of United Progressive Alliance Government, said R. Velu, Minister of State for Railways.

Speaking at the inauguration of the newly-converted broad gauge section between Karaikudi and Manamadurai here on Wednesday, he said at the end of five years in office, the State would have got schemes worth Rs.5,332 crore. Various works to the tune of Rs.1,332 crore were being undertaken.

Mr. Velu said Bihar and Tamil Nadu had got special attention, as both States were neglected for several years. All sections of broad gauge were either completed or on the verge of completion. There would not be any metre gauge section in the State in the next two years.

Mr. Velu said the Madurai-Bodinaickanur section, which was almost abandoned for various reasons, would be brought under the broad gauge network.

Due to aggressive marketing and sincere attempts, the Indian Railways had earned profit of Rs.67,000 crore during the last four years. Chances were bright that the profit might touch Rs.1 lakh crore at the end of five years of UPA Government, he added.

Inaugurating the converted broad gauge section and flagging off train services on the route, Mr. Chidambaram said that it was because of cordial relationship between the Governments both at the State and Centre innumerable and important infrastructural projects were being taken up in the State.

If the unity continued further, several more projects could be taken up.

Mr. Chidambaram said one more train for the benefit of passengers of Sivaganga, Karaikudi and others would be operated between Rameswaram and Chennai.

Railway Minister would make announcement soon after consulting officials. Union Minister of State for Environment and Forests, S. Regupathy, Minister for Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments, K.R. Periakaruppan, and MPs, M.S.K. Bhavani Rajendran and E.M. Sudarsana Natchiappan, spoke.

Comment:
How much profit Bihar and Tamil Nadu gives to Indian railway? The railway infrastructure in Bihar and Tamil Nadu is much higher than profit making states like Orissa and Chhattisgarh. Railway ministers from Bihar and Tamil Nadu are LOTERE in the name of development.

Appeal to Sign the online Petition

2008-07-01T06:46:00.000-07:00

Click here to sign the online petition

To: All

Sub:- Declare railway projects in multi-facet backward KBK and bordering regions in Chhatisgarh, Orissa and Andhra Pradesh as National Project in the Line of North Eastern States of India

To
The President of India
The Prime Minister of India

Copy to:
The Union Railway Minister
The Chief Minister of Orissa
The Chief Minister of Chhatisgarh
Planning Commission of India
Chairman, Indian Railway Board
Media

Dear honorable President and Prime minister of India,

Kalahandi-Balangir- Koraput (KBK) region in Orissa is a multi-facet backward region due to hilly backwardness, tribal populated backwardness and backward due to natural calamities.

Similar backward regions in India like North Eastern States have received special treatment by railway board where as KBK region has been neglected since decades. Even hilly region like Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir and Uttarakhand have received special package in railway by Govt. of India. Unfortunately, KBK region where backwardness is multi-facet has not yet received similar treatment.

Naxal activities are predominantly high in the border between Orissa and Chhatisgarh/ Andhra Pradesh due to poor communication and infrastructure and recently it is spreading to other bordering and backward districts like Balangir, Nuapada and Kalahandi districts.

The railway infrastructure in Orissa and Chhatisgarh is substantially low compared to national average despite both the states are in the profit making zones, where as railway infrastructure in Bihar and West Bengal are remarkably high though they are in the loss making zones.

Ref: http://www.indianrailways.gov.in/maps/all_india.htm

East Coast zone and South Eastern zone (under which Orisss state comes) and South East Central zone (under which Chhatisgarh state comes) of Indian railways are among top most profit making zones and large amount profit made by Indian railway comes from the royalty by transporting coal, metals, ores, and minerals which Orissa and Chhatisgarh substantially contribute, however, Indian railway has ignored Orissa, specially KBK region, since decades.

Ref: http://www.orissalinks.com/orissagrowth/archives/489

Politically, Indian railway was being always misused by railway ministry and development in the important backward but profit making states like Orissa and Chhatisgarh was being marginalized.

For example, Khordha road – Balangir and Lanjigarh road – Junagarh railway lines in Orissa which were approved much earlier than Muzaffarpur – Sitamari and Sultangang-Deogarh railway lines in Bihar are still struggling to be accomplished, but other two lines in Bihar are completed by now.

Ref: http://www.indianrailways.gov.in/

During last 15 years, more railway lines were approved in Bihar, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and West Bengal (all of them comes under loss making zones) than Orissa and Chhatisgarh (both are in profit making zones). The lines accomplished in Orissa are solely due to mineral transportation for railway’s own interest unlike in those above states mentioned earlier.

In last 5 years Indian railway is establishing three railway plants in Bihar (loss making zone) and one in Kerala (another loss making zone), but none of the plants including the recently proposed power plant by Indian railway, was being established in Orissa or Chhatisgarh despite profit making zones and rich in coal. Such railway plant through Govt. initiative in multi-facet backward region like KBK is imminent for social development.

Since decades, funds allotted in the railway budgets to profit making zones like East Coast railway (ECOR) and South East Central railway (SECR) is lower/comparable as/to that of loss making zones like Eastern railway, North Eastern railway and Southern railway zones. The large amount of funds allotted to ECOR is towards mineral transportation and there was very little fund towards social need of the state.

We do not have any objection towards development of railway infrastructure in Bihar, West Bengal and any other states in India rather would like to see their well being, but we are totally against the marginalization of Indian railway towards backward state and region like Orissa, Chhatisgarh and KBK.

We propose Orissa and Chhatisgarh State Governments to give land free of cost for railway development in the backward region and Central Government of India to declare all the railway projects in KBK and bordering regions in Chhatisgarh, Orissa and Andhra Pradesh as national projects in the line of North Eastern states of India as soon as possible, and

(i) Accomplish immediately Khordha road – Balangir railway line to connect the KBK region with state capital

(ii) Approve Junagarh – Ambagura line proposed under extension of Lanjigarh road – Junagarh line

(iii) Approve Bargarh – Padampur - Nuapada road - Kantabanji – Khariar- Ampani-Navarangur- Jeypore – Makangiri – Kottagudem (Andhra Pradesh) new line in the backward region, which would help to monitor naxal acitivities by bringing development in the region

(iv) Carry out new survey and approve Rajim (Chhatisgarh) – Gariaband (Chhatisgarh) – Deobhog (Chhatisgahr) – Junagarh – Lanjigarh road – Simanbadi (Kandhamal) – Asika- Berhampur – Gopalpur line to directly connect Raipur with Gopalpur port passing through one of the most backward regions of India.

(v) Carry out new survey and approve Dhamtari (Chhatisgarh) – Umarrkote (Orissa) – Nabrangpur (Orissa) line, an alternative direct access to Gopalpur and Visakhapatnam ports from Raipur and other mining region in Chhatisgarh.

(vi) Carry out new survey and approve Simanbadi -Phulbani-Angul line to benefit NALCO by further reducing the distance between Damanjodi (Asia’s largest Alumina plant) and Angul and passing through tribal backward region.

Thank you and best regards

Click here to sign the online petition

Railway to set up global training centre

2008-06-19T01:25:00.000-07:00

Press Trust of India, June 18, 2008

New Delhi, Jun 18 (PTI) Gearing up to train railway managers for future challenges, Indian Railways will set up an international management institute here.
The institute would provide a kind of rail sector MBA in the country.

The International Railway Strategic Management Institute (IRSMI) will come up in collaboration with the International Union of Railways (UIC) on 30,000 sq metre land in Chanakyapuri here.

"We have sanctioned Rs 22 crore for the construction of the state-of-the-art building and an architect would be selected soon to design it," said a senior Railways Ministry official.

The training modules would be prepared in consultation with the leading global business schools including HEC Paris and also with the UIC.

"The training facility would be extended to all UIC member countries. The fee structure for different training modules, workshops and seminar on specific areas would be finalised after the completion of the building," said the official.

The setting up of the IRSMI was approved by the UIC which felt there was a need for an international railway management institute exclusively for rail sector management. PTI

Rlys defensive on Khurda-Balangir project

2008-06-19T01:05:00.000-07:00

The Pioneer, June 19, 2008
Pioneer News Service | Bhubaneswar

In the wake of threats by the BJD and some other parties to launch an agitation against the delay in the construction of Khurda Road-Balangir railway project, East Coast Railway (ECoR) soueces on Wednesday claimed that the project was "on the path of progress."

But at the same time, ECoR seemed to be on the defensive on the issue as it laid a condition for the State Government's financial contribution to ensure progress of the project work. An ECoR release stated, "It may also be mentioned that for such social-oriented projects, the financial participation by the State Government and other agencies would also act as a catalyst in speeding up the completion of the project in less time."

An ECoR release said the project, which has been sanctioned at a cost of Rs 700 crore, is poised for continued progress. Phase-I of the project for 36 km has been sanctioned by the Railway Ministry at a cost of Rs 69.98 crore.

The East Coast Railway Construction Organisation has almost completed the land acquisition and earthwork for phase-I of the project. Some bridges have also been completed in this portion. In the rest of the section, the land acquisition work has already been taken up in Khurda, Nayagarh and Balangir districts, the release said.

This year (2008-09), funds of Rs 32 crore have been allotted for various works, which are in progress in the project.

The detailed estimate of phase-II of the project is also under consideration of the Railway Board, the release said.

The release further stated, "It is also likely that more funds may be allotted to this project if the problems of land acquisition, forestry clearance and law and order do not hamper the progress and pace of work."

Khurda-Balangir rail line work delay brews resentment

2007-09-06T00:58:00.001-07:00

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.

Khurda-Balangir rail line work delay brews resentment

2007-09-06T00:58:00.000-07:00

A Letter to PM

2007-08-28T21:53:00.000-07:00

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

Kerala, Bengal get 5 rly projects in a day

2007-08-24T04:45:00.000-07:00

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.

PM APPROVES FUNDING OF RAILWAY PROJECTS IN THE NORTH EAST

2007-08-23T19:35:00.000-07:00

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.

Indian Railways must give ECOR and Orissa its fair share

2007-08-23T19:32:00.000-07:00

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.....

NROs demand more investment in railway sector in Orissa

2007-08-20T19:55:00.001-07:00

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.

Indian Railways ignore ECOR

2007-08-20T19:45:00.000-07:00

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 ?

Political foul play while selecting the high speed corridor routes

2007-08-20T04:33:00.000-07:00

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)

An Open Letter to Orissa CM

2007-08-20T03:48:00.000-07:00

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

ECoR shares 12% of loading, 7% revenue

2007-08-17T20:09:00.000-07:00

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.

Indian Railways: an insignia for national integration or an institution for political disintegration?

2007-08-16T04:11:00.001-07:00

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.

French team to sign MoU for high-speed rail corridor for loss making zones: What about backward & neglected but profit making zone like ECOR?

2007-08-16T04:01:00.000-07:00

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

Railways to invite bids for legal, financial consultancy: How much of that will go to backward region where railway earns majority of its profit?

2007-08-16T03:46:00.000-07:00

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.

Leaders call for speeding up work on JKB Rail Project

2007-08-14T20:31:00.000-07:00

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.

A Letter to PM and Planning Commission

2007-08-13T20:48:00.000-07:00

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

Lanjigarh - Umuri Railway Project, When?

2007-08-06T20:19:00.001-07:00

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.

Make KBK Rail Connectivity: a National Project

2007-07-12T17:17:00.001-07:00

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
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Railway link yet to see light of day

2007-07-11T01:28:00.001-07:00

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.

Railway projects in AP, Orissa get clearance

2007-06-05T20:48:00.000-07:00

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.

Making New Railway Track Exploration in KBK+ Districts

2007-05-30T00:50:00.001-07:00

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.

Getting KBK+ districts closer to the state capital

2007-05-28T19:49:00.000-07:00

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.]

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]

Thus these four lines will connect 5 new district HQs to the broad gauge railways and will significantly reduce the distance between 4 other district HQs and the state capital. That is 8 district HQs would be within half-a-day intercity distance away from the state capital and the 9th one (Koraput) will be within a overnight ride from the state capital.

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.

Tribal land subsidizing some metro rails: tribals ride on roof of freight trains

2007-05-26T10:00:00.000-07:00

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 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.

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 India, and big parts of these areas are extremist infested. 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-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." 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."

We request the Indian Railways and the planning commission to pay as much special attention to this other frontier of India (the tribal areas of Orissa, KBK and Chhatisgarh) as it plans to in regard to the frontier areas of North east and J &K. This area is farther from the mainstream India than even most of Northeast and J&K, shares many attributes such as remoteness and presence of extremism, is among the most backward economically, and yet contributes a lot to the Railway kitty. In particular, IR and the planning commission should budget to complete – during the 11^th plan – all the ongoing newline and gauge conversion projects touching these parts of Orissa and Chhatisgarh, as their completion only bring these states closer to the average in terms of Rail density. These projects include Dallirajhara-Jagdalpur, Angul-Sukinda Rd, Talcher-Bimlagarh, Lanjigarh Rd-Junagarh, and Khurda Rd-Balangir. In addition they should appropriately connect the dangling lines in these and similar areas where the end points are often mining locations. Some of these end points are Barsuan, Kiriburu, Gua, Bolanikhadan, Badampahar, and Gurumahisani and all of them are in tribal areas. The resulting lack of connectivity has resulted in almost zero passenger services in these areas and as a result local inhabitants, mostly tribals, often travel on the roof of freight trains. This has resulted in tragic incidents, some with loss of lives.

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

2007-05-26T09:52:00.000-07:00

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 India's economic growth. So making profit is a good goal for IR; but at the same time it must not lose sight of its social responsibilities. As the 2007 Railway budget and the 11th five year plan looms we would like to hereby remind the IR and the planning commission some of the social aspects of IR that they both should keep in mind and that have a chance of getting overlooked by the Indian Railways drive for profit.

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 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), Tamil Nadu (32.1), Assam (31.9), Kerala (27), Gujarat (26.9) and Jhrakhand (24.3). Among the major states outside Northeast and Jammu and Kashmir the lowest rail density is in Himachal Pradesh (5.1), followed by Uttarakhand (6.4), Chhatisgarh (8.6), Orissa (14.6), Karnataka (15.5), Madhya Pradesh (15.9), Rajasthan (17), Maharashtra (17.9), Goa (18.6) and Andhra Pradesh (18.9).

While the importance of having adequate Railway infrastructure in Jammu and Kashmir and the Northeast has been realized the same is not the case with respect to the other frontier of India that lies in the interior. With respect to the North east the planning commission aims to break the sense of isolation associated with it. Several projects for the NE have been planned during the 11th five year plan including extending tracks to Kohima, laying lines inside Meghalaya, and possibly a line to Itanagar. A line to Agartala is nearing completion.

By the other frontier of India I mean the area that includes the KBK region of Orissa, parts of Chhatisgarh, parts of Andhra Pradesh etc. The Rail density in this area is very low, the population of this area is mostly tribals, several districts of these areas are listed

among the most backward districts of India, and big part of these areas are extremist infested. In other words this area is farther from the mainstream India than most of North east and Jammu and Kashmir. But this area abounds in mineral resources and thus generates a lot of revenue for the Railways. Yet the Railways have severely neglected this area and its people.

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 Northern Bihar), and even the parts that are connected may not have frequent trains serving those locations."

Hence, although the 2005-06 Railway budget significantly increased its allocation to projects in Orissa over previous years, the 11^th 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 Khurda Rd - Balangir, Nuapada-Gunupur-Theruvali, Lanjigarh Rd-Junagarh-Nawarangpur-Jeypore-Malkangiri, Baripada-Bangiriposi-...-Tatanagar, Durg-Dallirajhara-Jagdalpur, Rajahmundry-Bhadrachalam Rd. and connecting Malkangiri, Kirandul and Manguru.

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 India's growth and investment in them is good for India. But in the process let us not forget the tribals of Chhatisgarh and the KBK districts of Orissa. Such constant neglect of their well being is perhaps why extremists have been able to make inroads into those areas.

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 Bihar (the home state of the Railway minister) do not quite give the Indian people the confidence that IR is looking at regional balance. Note that IR's current major production units are the Railway Coach factory in Kapurthala (Punjab), Integral Coach factory in Perambur near Chennai, Diesel loco works in Varanasi (Uttar Pradesh), Chittaranjan Loco works in Chittaranjan (West Bengal), Diesel-loco modernisation works in Patiala (Punjab) and Wheel and Axle plant in Bangalore (Karnataka) and during Lalu's recent visit to Kerala it has been reported that he has promised setting up of a bogey and parts manufacturing unit and an electric multiple unit in Kerala. IR must tabulate all these and try its best to spread the cheer across the country not just in specific states from where some special people come from.

Finally IR must watch out the activity of some of the older railway zones that seem to have not gotten over the zone splits and as a result have knowingly or unknowingly acted in a way detrimental to states that are part of that zone but do not contain the HQ of that zone. For example, CAG reported that while the gauge conversion of the Rupsa-Bangiriposi section (in Orissa) in South Eastern Railway (SER) zone was conceived as an alternate to the third line between Kharagpur and Tatanagar, SER adopted a mixed track structure instead of conforming to the standard required to run heavy haul trains, thereby defeating the basic objective of providing an alternate route to the heavy haul freight traffic. If SER is not interested in these lines, and is wasting Railways money, may be the railway ministry can consider