RAIL MINISTER URGED TO SET UP VARSITY IN ODISHA-C’GARH BORDER

The Pioneer, July 12, 2014

Non-resident Odia (NRO) Prof Digamabara Patra, a resident of Kalahandi district, who is currently teaching Chemistry in the American University of Beirut in Lebanon, has sought establishment of a Railway University in Odisha-Chhattisgarh border. Besides, he has demanded adequate allocation for some of the oldest railway projects in Odisha which have either not started or are moving at a snail’s pace due to apathy by the Indian Railways.

Writing a letter to Union Railways Minister Sadananda Gowda, Patra said in 1962-63, late MP Pratap Keshari Deo had pointed out in the Parliament that Parkers had done a railway line survey from Kesinga to Nabarangpur to join Kothavalasa-Kirandul (KK) line, because Koraput-Kothavalasa and Koraput-Rayagada are special category railway routes having many tunnels and high-level bridges.

The speed is limited (often less than 50 kmph) and number of wagon can’t exceed 30 during mineral transportations in these two routes. The idea is Amabguda-Lanjigarh road railway line will make mineral transportation from Kirandul to Visakhapatnam faster and easier.

Realizing this, in 1991, Laniigarh road-Junagarh line was approved to connect with KK line at Ambaguda via Nabarangpur.

The 56 km Lanjigarh road-Junagarh line of this route took 25 years to get completed. However, surveyed Junagarh-Ambaguda portion of this route has not yet been approved which will bring railway connection to tribal dominated Nabarangur district. KK line is one of the most profit-making routes of the Indian Railways. Immediate action is needed for approval and completion of rest of Junagarh-Ambaguda line without any delay.

He lamented that no allotment of fund was made for the Wagon Maintenance Workshop at Kalahandi and Skill Development Center at Koraput in the profit making ECOR zone. He opined that a bottom-to-top approach needs to be adhered to by the Railways so as to give adequate exposure to the backward regions.

RAIL BUDGET ENCOURAGES FAVOURITISM, WIDENS GAP

The Pioneer, July 11, 2014

NRO writes to Modi not to repeat UPA policy

Non-resident Odia (NRO) Prof Digambara Patra of the American University of Beirut has strongly condemned the favouritism shown to south and west India for political gain and the negligence shown to mineral bearing States like Odisha, Chhattisgarh and MP in the current Railway Budget.

In a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Patra said his NDA Government should not repeat the same blunders of the Congress of the last 65 years of showing special favour to certain regions at the cost of the rest for political concerns.

He said that the people of the country had a lot of expectations from the Modi Government on even allocation of funds for growth including in the railway sector, but things on the ground has remainedsomewhat worrying. Prof Patra also equalled Railways Minister Sadananda Gowda with that of his predecessors and said he was befooling the people.

“If one carefully analyses the number of projects in this Budget, somehow the Railways Ministry had tried to woo Karnataka in various projects: new trains (7 trains to Bengaluru alone against none to KBK-Odisha), new survey, newlines, tourism cluster, etc. and served the interest of Gujarat and UP largely for the Prime Minister’s political interest. Earlier former Railways Ministers had been also doing the same: taking political interest of their own,” said Patra.

Lamenting that the mineral bearing regions and tribal and backward pockets of the country have always been neglected in the railway sector because the top leaders always concentrated on the growth of their region for political reasons, Patra called for a need to promote the underdeveloped areas on a priority basis.

He said that locations in Odisha and Chhatisgarh, that supply coal, iron, steel and aluminum for railway infrastructure and manufacturing unit, are never considered for railway coach factory.

Narla road (comes under profit making ECoR zone) in KBK districts is located at the junction of three public sector steel plants in Bhilai (Chhattisgarh), Rourkela (Odisha) and Visakhapatnam (Andhra Pradesh). It is also close to MCL coal blocks in Angul and Jharsuguda (Odisha). Nalco, Balco, HAL and Vedanta Alumina are all located very close to it.  Such a location was never considered.

At the same time Chhapra (comes under loss making North Eastern zone) and Kolkata (comes of loss making Eastern zone) were the locations selected by the Railways for factories, he said.

MP, Chhattisgarh and Odisha have railway track less than national average per every 1,000 sq km. But tribal and backward pockets of these States are continuously ignored to suit political interest.

The current Railway Budget encourages favouritism and widens the gap between backward clusters like KBK and rich cities like Bangaluru, Delhi, Ahemadabad and Mumbai, added Patra.

Letter to Railway Minister: Establish Railway University in Odisha-Chhattisgarh border

Dear honorable railway minister Mr. Gowda,

1) In 1962-63 late MP Sri Pratap Keshari Deo had pointed out in the parliament that Mr. Parkers had done a railway line survey from Kesinga to Nabarangpur to join Kothavalasa-Kirandul (KK) line, because Koraput-Kothavalasa and Koraput-Rayagada are e-special category railway routes having many tunnels and high-level bridges, the speed is limited (often less than 50 kmph) and number of wagon can’t exceed 30 during mineral transportations in these two routes. The idea is Amabguda-Lanjigarh road railway line will make mineral transportation from Kirandul to Visakhapatnam faster and easier.  Realizing this in 1991, Laniigarh road-Junagarh line was approved to connect with KK line at Ambaguda via Nabarangpur. 56 km of Lanjigarh road-Junagarh line of this route took 25 years to get completed, however, surveyed Junagarh-Ambaguda portion of this route has not yet been approved which will bring railway connection to tribal dominated Nabarangur district. KK line is one of the most profit-making routes of Indian railway. Immediate action is needed for approval and completion of rest of Junagarh-Ambaguda line without any delay. 

2) Railway often argues about return of investment when demand to establish new rail lines come in these backward pockets like Khordha road-Balangir, Kantabanji-Jeypore, Raipur-Debhog-Odisha (Junagarh) etc. but the same railway invest more on north eastern frontier and metro railway for social development when both metro railways and north eastern frontier railways are among the worst performing railway zones in India. MP, Chhattisgarh and Odisha have railway track less than national average per every 1000 sqkm. Railway sanctioned new lines in these states only for its commercial interest like port and mineral connectivity but social connectivity in tribal and backward pockets of these states are continuously ignored. Railway lines in the backward pockets of these states should be given national project in the line of north eastern states.

3) Surprisingly, no allotment of fund was made for Wagon Maintenance Workshop at Kalahandi and Skill Development Center at Koraput in the profit making ECOR zone. At the same time Chhapra (comes under loss making North Eastern zone) and Kolkata (comes under also loss making Eastern zone) were the locations selected by railway for factories. Whether be it Raebareli (constituency of Sonia Gandhi), Chhapra (constituency of Lalu Yadav), West Bengal (home state of Mamata Banerjee), etc. powerful political leaders have often established railway factories based on their political agenda rather than actual source of raw materials like coal, iron, alumina, etc needed for such railway factories.  
4) Locations in Odisha, Chhattisgarh, etc. that supply coal, iron, steel and aluminum for railway infrastructure and manufacturing unit are never considered for railway coach factory. For example, Narla road (comes under profit making ECOR zone) in KBK districts is located at the junction of three public sector steel plants in Bhilai (Chhattisgarh), Rourkela (Odisha) and Visakhapatnam (Andhra Pradesh). It is also close to MCL coal blocks in Angul and Jharsuguda (Odisha). NALCO, BALCO, HAL and Vedanta Alumina are all located very close to it. Such location was never considered for factory. I ruge railway university could be established in such a location.

60,000 crore investment in bullet train is appreciable, but similar amount should also be allocated to these zones that bring profit to Indian railway. Otherwise present railway budget widens the gap between backward clusters like KBK and rich cities like Bangaluru/Delhi/ Ahemadabad/ Mumbai.

Honorable prime minister has promised to the nation to approach from bottom to top rather than continuing practice the same top-to-bottom approach and I sincerely hope railway will also adhere to bottom-to-top approach by not repeating the experience of past 65 years to give justice to backward pockets of Odisha, Chattisgarh and MP.

With best regards

Comment on R. Jagnatthan's "Rail Budget 2014-15: A holding operation, for dreams cost money"

Click here for R. Jagannathan's article: 

Jagannathanji, you actually missed the important point, Sadananda Gowda is actually fooling like any other former railway minister. Bullet train, diamond quadrilateral of high-speed rail network etc are not new in the horizon, these have been quite sometime in railway's discussion at least. Importantly, you missed to recognize the actual profit maker of Indian railway, when I look into 4 most profitable zone of railway, none of them comes under any one of the metro cities and four most profit making zones of Indian railway comes largely in the states of Odisha, Chhatisgarh and Madya Pradesh (MP) that have less than national average rail network.

Most of the proposals in railway budget are an extension of earlier plans. In principle, Sadananda Gowda is an extension of same group of people to create favoritism for their respective cities/states using railway ministry. If one carefully analyzes number of projects in this budget, somehow the railway minister had tried his best to woo Karnataka in various projects: new trains, new survey, newlines, tourism cluster, etc. and not ignored interest of Gujarat and UP largely that is of prime minister’s political interest. Earlier former railway ministers had been also doing the same: taking political interest of their constituency/state, and that of Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi and few extend of Manmohan Singh (a factory in Punjab). We expected Modi Govt. to be above this line and create an environment based on profitability and people whose sacrifice make the rail ministry run and not collapse over years. Over the decades, who are actually making one of the largest railway to run successfully are actually at the receiving end. We take minerals from tribal
and backward pockets of the country that not only make budget of the nation
richer with their minerals and ancillary metal industries but also
transportation of these minerals make Indian railway profitable. In return, we
neither create railway line in those regions for the benefit of local people
and tribal, nor establish railway factory/Railway University for local
development. Our leaders only think to fill their constituencies and states
forgetting sacrifice of those people, whether be it RaeBareli (constituency of
Sonia Gandhi), Chhapra (constituency of Lalu Yadav), West Bengal (home state of
Mamata Banerjee), etc. powerful political leaders have established railway factories
based on their political agenda rather than actual source of raw materials like
coal, iron, alumina, etc needed for such railway factories. Locations in Odisha, Chhatisgarh, etc. that supply coal, iron, steel and aluminum for railway infrastructure and manufacturing unit are never considered for railway coach factory. For example, Narla road (comes under profit making ECOR zone) in KBK districts is located at the junction of three public sector steel plants in Bhilai (Chhatisgarh), Rourkela (Odisha) and Visakhapatnam (Andhra Pradesh). It is also close to MCL coal blocks in Angul and Jharsuguda (Odisha). NALCO, BALCO, HAL and Vedanta Alumina are all located very close to this site. Such location was never considered. At the same time Chhapra (comes under loss making North Eastern zone) and Kolkata (comes of loss making Eastern zone) were the locations selected by railway for factories. Interestingly, railway argues about profitability making when demand to establish new rail lines come in these backward pockets, but the same railway invest more to north eastern frontier and metro railway for social development, both (metro railways and north eastern frontier) railways are among the worst performing railway zones in India. Unfortunately, MP, Chhatisgarh and Odisha have railway track less than national average per every 1000 sqkm. But tribal and backward pockets of these states are continuously ignored to suit political interest. When these people oppose for mining, then only we complain about naxalism? Of course, we were hopeless about UPA, at the same time is it what we expect from Modi Govt.?

Poor quality of road work: MLA Capt. Mishra pulls up to engineer

Orissapost, July 8, 2014

Dharitri, July 8, 2014

Sub-minor Indravati Canal in Gambhariguda Broke Out

Reported by Sri Anshuman Patra
Dharitri, July 8, 2014

Odisha Asks Six STPIs

Tathya.in, July 7, 2014

The State Government today demanded setting up of six more software technology parks of India (STPIs) in Odisha in addition to the existing four.

The demand was made by the Information Technology (IT) Minister Pranab Prakash Das during a meeting with Union Minister for Information Technology (IT) Ravishankar Prasad here today.

The new STPIs have been proposed at Jajpur, Sambalpur, Jeypore, Angul, Rayagada and Kalahandi. The four existing STPIs are at Bhubaneswar, Rourkela, Berhampur and Balasore.

Mr.Das urged Prasad to expedite the final clearance for two projects: the Rs 3, 700 crore IT investment region spread over 10, 210 acres in Bhubaneswar and the Greenfield electronic manufacturing cluster spread over an area of 215 acres.

The Minister also urged the Union IT Minister to grant approval to the Taiwan electronic township in Info Valley, Bhubaneswar.

State IT Secretary Sanjib Mishra and senior officials of the Union IT department were present during the meeting.

During the visit, Mr.Das today also urged Union Power and Coal Minister Piyush Goyal to expedite grant of mining lease for Manoharpur coal block allocated to Odisha Power Generation Corporation (OPGC) for its expansion of 1,320 mw power project at its Banharpalli plant near Jharsuguda.

During his meeting with the Union Minister in New Delhi, Mr.Das urged the latter to allow interim coal linkage from the Basundhara coal mines to run the plant. He also urged the Minister to pursue the stage-II clearance for Manoharpur coal block.

While the State Government has recommended mining lease of the coal block to the Coal Ministry, it is awaiting approval from the MoEF for stage II clearance. The coal block had obtained Stage-I forest clearance from the Ministry of Environment & Forests (MoEF).

OPGC’s 1,320 MW expansion plan is being taken up at a cost of Rs 11,547 crore, which also includes the cost of other components like coal block development and dedicated rail corridor.

Expressing that the State Government has come up with a mega plan to generate around 50,000 MW of power considering the huge reserve of coal in the state, Mr.Das reiterated the Government’s demand for 25% free power from coal-based power plants, 33 pc free power from power plants based on coal washery rejects in the state and 25 pc cess on the power sold outside the state.

The Minister also demanded reconsideration of the decision to disallow the benefits of Restructured Accelerated Power Development and Reforms Program (RAPDRP) to the consumers of the three private distribution companies (DISCOMs) of the State.

Due to the non-extension of R-APDRP in the State, which was pioneer in the power sector reforms in the country, Odisha is losing around Rs 1,500 crore per annum, Mr.Das pointed out.

20 More DHHs to Get ICU Facility

The New Indian Express (Bhubaneswar), July 5, 2014

BHUBANESWAR: In a major boost to provisioning critical care facilities at the grassroots, the State Government is set to establish ICUs in 20 district headquarters hospitals (DHHs) by 2015-16.

While 13 districts have already been approved for the ICU projects and are in different stages of implementation, seven more districts are set to be included in the list this year. The DHHs include Khurda, Sambalpur, Kandhamal, Nayagarh, Jharsuguda and RGH Rourkela. The ICUs would be established under both Central and State government schemes, Health Secretary PK Mohapatra said.

The critical care units have already been made operational at Malkangiri, Nabarangpur, Balangir, Puri, Capital Hospital at Bhubaneswar and Koraput which joined the bandwagon on Friday. The rest seven DHHs of Nuapada, Balasore, Mayurbhanj, Kalahandi, Jajpur, Bargarh and Angul will be equipped within next two months, sources said.

The ICUs with six beds and other advance critical support equipment, including two ventilators, are being set up at a cost of `1 crore each. They will be manned by three doctors, 10 nurses and paramedical staff who have received extensive training in critical care at the Apollo Hospitals,

Bhubaneswar.

The proposal for creation of posts for the seven new DHHs is under consideration of the Government. Work will start as soon as the approval from the Finance Department is received. “However, there is a need to create a pool of ICU trained personnel in the State so as to engage them in critical care units only. If the doctors drawn from the districts, who have been trained in intensive care, are transferred and deployed in other specialisations, the whole exercise will be rendered futile,” State nodal officer on National Programme for Cancer, Diabetes, Cardiovascular Diseases and Stroke (NPCDCS) and National Programme for Healthcare of Elderly (NPHE) Dr PKB Patnaik said.

Meanwhile, Koraput became the fourth district in the State to make the integrated Non-Communicable Diseases (NCD) complex and services functional. The complex was inaugurated by Koraput Collector Yamini Sarangi.

The NCD complex houses all programme components like six-bed ICU, 10-bed Geriatric Ward, four-bed Daycare Chemotherapy Unit, lab and Physiotherapy Unit. It has been constructed at a cost of `2.5 crore.

Dr Patnaik said work at the remaining one district in the first phase NPCDCS Nuapada is almost over and will be operational soon.

Nabarangpur Yet to Get Place in Railway Map

The New Indian Express (Bhubaneswar), July 5, 2014

NABARANGPUR: Even after six decades of agitations and demands, railway connectivity continues to elude the backward district of Nabarangpur. Home to over 14 lakh people, Nabarangpur comes under schedule area dominated by tribals and Dalits.

The district these days is making headlines due to increased Maoist activities. People here feel it is unfortunate that in a poor and backward district like Nabarangpur, development of rail network has so far not received much attention since Independence. Absence of railway connectivity is attributed as the primary reason for backwardness of the district and heightened Maoist activities.

A report by the Planning Commission had stated: “Railways have always played an important role in economic development and social transformation in every part of the country. However, it is unfortunate that seven districts of Odisha, including Nabarangpur and Malkangiri, do not have any railway connectivity.”

Intelligentsia here said the Indian Railways makes huge profit from its operations in Odisha. “The current policy of the Railways is flawed and detrimental to the backward areas like the KBK. Of all zones, SECR, ECoR and SER are the top profit-making zones. The profit mostly comes from transporting minerals available in the backward districts of Odisha,” they said.

Locals opined that Indian Railways builds high speed corridors, freight corridors, and metro rails in other parts of the country, but it should not forget the poor, backward and tribal-dominated areas like Nabarangpur.

Locals have been urging the Government to consider railway project in the KBK region as national project. They demanded early completion of Lanjigarh Road-Junagarh-Nabarangpur-Jeypore-Malkangiri-Bhadrachalam line.

Survey work for this line was completed long back and work from Lanjigarh Road to Junagarh in Kalahandi district has been completed. This line will pass through most of the Maoist-infested and tribal-dominated areas of Odisha and Andhra Pradesh.

Congress leader and former MP Pradeep Majhi said during his tenure, he had proposed a new railway line from Nabarangpur to Kantabanji via Dabugam-Jharigam-Dharamgarh-Khariar which will benefit people of Nabarangpur, Kalahandi, Nuapada and Balangir districts of KBK region. There is a narrow gauge railway line from Raipur via Dhantari (Chhattisgarh) which comes till the border of Nabarangpur district near Raighar.

The district administration had submitted a proposal to convert the narrow gauge to broad gauge and extend it to Nabarangpur via Raighar-Umerkote-Dabugam-Papadahandi by constructing a new railway line. However, during the UPA regime, no attention was paid towards any of these demands.

The new BJD MP of Nabarangpur, Balabhadra Majhi, who was an engineer with Indian Railways, had made the issue his poll plank during campaigning for the General Elections.

Professor Gopa Bandhu Behera is syndicate representative in the selection committee for new VC of Sambalpur University

Sambad, July 4, 2014

Kalahandi Faces Godown Crunch

The New Indian Express (Bhubaneswar), July 3, 2014

BHAWANIPATNA: Despite being one of the leading paddy producing districts of the State, Kalahandi has been facing hurdles in paddy procurement due to inadequate godown space. Around 50 lakh quintals of paddy of kharif and rabi seasons are procured each year in the district which has godown space to store only nine lakh quintals of rice under Odisha State Warehousing Corporation and Central Warehousing Corporation.

During kharif and rabi seasons, the procured paddy is lifted by the authorised rice mills under Odisha State Civil Supplies Corporation (OSCSC) as Custom Millers to process the paddy and supply the milled rice amounting to 30 to 35 lakh quintals. The district has rice godowns at Jaipatna, Koksara, Junagarh, Dharamgarh, Kesinga and Bhawanipatna which are managed by OSCSC.

Each month, only 84,000 quintals of rice are lifted from these godowns for public distribution system (PDS). There is a persistent demand by the farmers as well as millers to create space in the godowns to accommodate milled rice of the Custom Millers and additional godowns to keep the surplus rice.

A rice mill owner said the Custom Millers are facing problem to deliver rice on time due to lack of godown space. The mills also cannot keep the rice for long time as it will damage the produce. Unfortunately, the Government has not taken any step to either construct more godowns in the district or allow inter-state movement of rice, he added.

Contacted, District Civil Supply Officer Ballav Dash said liquidation of stock from the godowns is one of the reasons for slow delivery of rice by the mills. In last kharif season, 93 mills lifted 32 lakh quintals of paddy and had to supply 22 lakh quintals of rice to OSCSC. But, they have supplied only 13 lakh quintals of rice so far. The supply is delayed mostly due to lack of space in the godowns, he added.

Similarly, during the current rabi season, 59 mills lifted 12 lakh quintals of paddy from the procurement centres and have to deliver eight lakh quintals of rice to OSCSC. Thus, godown space to accommodate total 17 lakh quintals of rice is required. But, the space in the godowns can house only about 30,000 quintals at present. However, OSCSC is taking steps to transport the stock to other districts, Dash added.

DON’T NEGLECT ODISHA IN RLY INFRA: NRO PROF

The Pioneer, July 3, 2014

‘Loss-making zones get more projects under leaders’ influence’

Even as the East Coast Railway (ECoR) is one of the most profit-making railway zones of the country, the Railway Ministry has not been fairly treating Odisha and Chhattisgarh (another profit-making zone) for decades, says leading non-resident Odia (NRO) Professor Digambara Patra.

In a letter to Railway Minister Sadananda Gowda, Assistant Professor of Beirut University, USA Dr Patra also points out that many loss-making projects in Bihar and West Bengal were approved and completed under the influence of former Railway Ministers.

Both Chhattisgarh and Odisha have lower than national average of railway track per 1000 km and need special considerations, Patra said in the letter written on Monday.

Most of the railway lines Khordha road-Balangir, Talcher-Bimalagarh, Lanjigarh road-Junagarh extension to Jeypore to Bhadrachalam road, Dhamtari-Jagdalpur, Raipur-Rajim-Debhog-Junagarh, Talcher-Lanjigarh road, Angul-Sukinda and Kantabanji-Jeypore are not progressing due to diversion of funds to other States by powerful political leaders, Dr Patra further alleges.

Patra says while railway lines for many of the loss-making routes in Bihar and West Bengal were approved and completed in time, 56-km-long Lanjigarh road — Junagarh railway line, a part of Lanjigarh road —Ambaguda line, took 25 years to be completed. Junagarh—Ambaguda section of this route has not even sanctioned.

Patra cites the example of Khordha road—Balangir railway project, which is moving in snail’s space.

As Howrah—Chennai route was congested and a route via Kharagpur, Baripada, Talcher, Lanjigarh road, Junagarh, Nabarangpur, Jeypore, Malkangiri, Bhadrachalam road and Vijaywada will not only decongest the route but also bring development to many tribal dominated districts of the country, Dr Patra observes, adding that the proposed route would also connect Hyderabad directly with Ranchi and Patna (via Titlagarh-Junagarh) or Kolkata (via Baripada-Lanjigarh road-Bhadrachalam road).

Appreciating the special emphasis by the Railways for development in the North Eastern States and Jammu and Kashmir, he urges the Minister to give special emphasis on the KBK area  and Kandhamal, Kanker, Jagdalpur, Raipur and Dhamtari, which are among the worst Maoist- affected districts of the country.

He also points out that major railway development and factories were approved in Rae Bareli, Amethi and Chaptra only under pressure of political leaders.

Patra expresses concern that the proposed low-budget Wagon Maintenance Workshop in Kalahandi and Wagon Factory in Ganjam have not yet started.

He demands that the railway projects in Odisha and Chhattisgarh be expedited and completed in five years. This apart, he also demands that a new railway coach factory be set up at Narla Road in Odisha.

Vedanta's Lanjigarh expansion plan sees revival hopes

DNA. July 2, 2014

Sumit Moitra

Odisha State Pollution Control Board will hold public hearing of the much-delayed project at Lanjigarh on July 30

The controversial project of Vedanta group to expand Sesa-Sterlite's Lanjigarh refinery is set to revive with Odisha deciding to undertake public hearing of the project later this month.

Odisha State Pollution Control Board will be holding the public hearing of the much-delayed project at Lanjigarh itself on July 30, the state agency has said.

Incidentally, the London-based Vedanta Resources was not hopeful about getting the approval for the project.

"With regard to the expansion project at Lanjigarh, the company's fresh application for environmental clearance is in process and in the meantime the expansion plans are on hold," Vedanta had told its global investors on May 15.

The development caps the tumultuous journey of the project whose survival was linked to bauxite mining in the Niyamgiri hills which has now been scrapped.

In fact, the refinery with current capacity of 1 million tonne (mt) was set up in the belief that bauxite would be sourced from Niyamgiri. However after years of legal battles, the Supreme Court declined to gave the forest clearance to mines in Niyamgiri, keeping interest of local tribes in mind.

Lack of availability of bauxite forced Anil Agarwal-controlled Sesa-Sterlite to operate the refinery at around 60% capacity sourcing nearly 1.5 mt from group outfit Balco's mines, and another 1 mt from other states, including Gujarat and Andhra Pradesh.

Despite such hindrances, Vedanta Group is going ahead with the project to expand the capacity of alumina refinery from 1 mt to 6 mt.

"The bauxite supply to the plant would be met partly from the mine located at Lanjigarh, around 3.7 kilometre from the plant site and balance would be met either from other bauxite deposits located around the plant as well as by outsourcing bauxite from other parts of the country," Sesa-Sterlite has said in its environmental impact assessment report.

Sesa Sterlite has identified sourcing bauxite for its aluminium operations as one of its top operational priorities for the current fiscal, and is now banking on the memorandum of understanding that it had with the state government.

The project cost, surprisingly, has been kept constant at Rs 8,000 crore, the report disclosed.

In a bid to exploit the vast bauxite reserve in Odisha and particularly in Kalahandi, one of the most backward areas in the country, Vedanta Aluminum applied for environmental clearance of the alumina refinery in 2007 for which terms of reference was approved in 2008.

After a public hearing, the Environment Assessment Committee went in for a site visit in 2010.

The environment ministry that year found some serious violation of environmental laws and decided to revoke the permission.

The current environment impact report now submitted to the Odisha State Pollution Control Board updates the earlier one incorporating the observations made during the site visit and also additional impact studies recommended by the environment ministry.

"There is no change in project capacity, site, scope of work technology, processes, environmental loadings and land use patter, the revised EIA report said.

Villagers demanded to stop illegal liquor shop in Merghara, Dharamgarh

Reported by Sri Anshuman Patra
Dharitri, July 1, 2014

Letter to Railway Minister: Consider backward pockets of profit making zones especially for railway infrastructure and factories

Dear Honorable Railway Minister Sri Sadananda Gowda,

Corruption in railway could be even worst than 2G scams; it is surprising that the states that contribute maximum return to railway’s own development are underprivileged not only from railway infrastructure development but also while establishing railway coach and other ancillary factories by Ministry of Railway.

Despite ECOR being one of the most profit making zones of Indian railways, railway ministry has been unfairly treating Odisha and Chhatisgarh (another profit making zone) since decades, whereas many loss-making projects in Bihar and West Bengal were approved and completed due to influence of former railway ministers.

Additionally, major railway development and factories were approved in Rae Bareli, Amethi, Chaptra, etc. ONLY due to powerful political leaders rather than due to actual source of raw materials like coal or iron supply for railway’s own requirements, thus, states like Odisha, Chhatisgarh etc. that supply coal, iron, steel and aluminum for railway infrastructure and manufacturing unit are dispossessed. Although many projects approved in other parts of the country has moved, the work of proposed low budget Wagon Maintenance Workshop in Kalahandi and Wagon Factory in Ganjam have not yet started.

The site in Kalahandi (Narla road) is located at the junction of three public sector steel plants in Bhilai, Rourkela and Visakhapatnam. It is also close to MCL coal blocks in Angul (via Lanjigarh road-Talcher) and Jharsuguda (Titilagarh-Jharsuguda route). National alumina supplier, NALCO, is located very close to it. Therefore, this location is an ideal place and very much in the interest of railway to establish railway coach and manufacturing factory instead of Rae Bareli or Chhapra.

Most of the railway lines Khordha road –Balangir, Talcher-Bimalagarh, Lanjigarh road-Junagarh extension to Jeypore to Bhdrachalam road, Dhamtari-Jagdalpur, Raipur-Rajim-Debhog-Junagarh, Talcher-Lanjigarh road, Angul-Sukinda, Kantabanji-Jeypore, etc. are not progressing as desired due to diversion of funds to other states by powerful political leaders.

As per railway’s own estimate many of the loss making routes in Bihar and West Bengal have been approved for new railway line and have been also completed timely but it took 25 years to complete 56 km Lanjigarh road- Junagarh railway line as part of Lanjigarh road-Ambaguda line. Junagarh-Ambaguda section of this route is not even sanctioned. Progress of another important line Khordha road-Balangir is moving in snail’s space. For these projects, railway only sees the loss making, whereas Kolkata metro despite making huge loss did not count for the ministry or railway.

Both Chhatisgarh and Odisha have lower than national average of railway track per 1000 km and need special considerations.

It is good that railway has given special emphasis for development in North Eastern state and Jammu and Kashmir. KBK, Kandhamal, Kanker, Jagdalpur, Raipur, Dhamtari, etc are among the worst Maoists affected districts in India. KBK is also one of the backward pockets in the country and faces similar social and political problem that includes tribal population, hilly terrain, backwardness, etc.

Howrah-Chennai route has been congested and a route via Kharagpur, Baripada, Talcher, Lanjigarh road, Junagarh, Nabarangpur, Jeypore, Malkangiri, Bhadrachalam road and Vijaywada will not only decongest the route but also bring development to many tribal dominated districts of the nation. The proposed route also makes another possible route to connect Hyderabad directly with Ranchi and Patna (via Titlagarh-Junagarh) or Kolkata (via Baripada-Lanjigarh road-Bhadrachalam road).

I appeal that Indian railway should immediately look into the railway projects in Odisha and Chhatisgarh to accomplish in a timely manner in next five years and establish a new railway coach factory at Narla road of Odisha for the reasons mentioned above.

With best regards

Digambara Patra

CC:

Honorable Prime Minister of India, Sri Modi

Honorable Chief Minister of Odisha, Sri Patnaik

Odisha Vedanta Lanjigarh became first in the world to develop & use of Cold Setting Cement Free Green Concrete

Orissadiary, June 25, 2014

Report by Odisha Diary bureau, Lanjigarh: Vedanta Lanjigarh was in news when few months back the first Red Mud Powder Plant in the world was commissioned with use of the same  in Cement Industries and thus avoiding major environmental risks  of Alumina refineries. Now Lanjigarh Alumina refinery of Vedanta has become the first company in the world to develop Cement Free Green Concrete by using Fly Ash only. The concrete is named as Cold Setting Geo-Polymer Concrete due to its properties of fast setting in ambient conditions. Speaking on the occasion Dr Mukesh Kumar , President and COO of Lanjigarh Alumina Refinery informed that they have developed a Zero Waste Model around 3 years back and since than they are working on numbers of projects related with Waste Utilization to ensure Optimum Utilization of Natural resources. This new technology has been developed in association with CSIR laboratory IMMT, Bhubaneshwar and inhouse research.  

The Concrete is truly Green Concrete as water is required only at the time of preparing the mixture and thereafter no water curing is required  ;thus saving not only huge quantity of water but labour also as the  concrete is stabilized in less than 6 hours only. Dr Kumar further informed that most of the Cement Concrete structures start deteriorating after about 20 years but the Geo Polymer  produced using Fly Ash can be more durable . Several attempts made world over to start using Fly Ash in concrete as well as in producing Geo Polymer but the main problem till date was that  polymerization and curing was requiring temperature above 50 degree celcius and thus commercial use could not be started . Now in association with IMMT Bhubaneshwar , special activators have been developed which allows not only producing Cement Free Concrete for strength upto  M50 but also  having properties of acid resistance, alkaline resistance, less permeable and fast setting. Indian Fly Ash is the best raw material for such Green Concrete as Si-Al ratio is more than 2:1. Such materials are also used for making special cements like Alumino –Silicon Cement which is normally imported in India. 

Dr Mukesh informed that their next milestone is to prepare this material in Ready to mix form so that it becomes user friendly. At Lanjigarh Refinery, roads are already being made of Cement Free Green Concrete and now the planning is to stop use of cement in other constructionalso progressively. The use of Fly ash in Cement free Concrete will not only minimized Green House Gas Emission but will also solve the problem of Fly Ash Disposal which all the power plants in the country are facing today.

- See more at: http://www.orissadiary.com/ShowBussinessNews.asp?id=51121#sthash.M8r6nnNK.dpuf

Odisha minister demands ESI medical college in Bhubaneswar

Odisha Sun Times, June 26, 2014

Odisha Sun Times Bureau
New Delhi, June 26:

Odisha Labour and Employees’ State Insurance minister Prafulla Mallick today demanded the setting up of an ESI Medical College and Hospital in Bhubaneswar and two nursing training schools at Bhawanipatna and Rourkela.

The Odisha minister placed his demands at a meeting of the Labour ministers of the states convened by Union Labour and Employment minister Narendra Singh Tomar in New Delhi.

Apart from discussing possible changes in some of the labour laws pertaining to the Central Labour Commission, Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation, Employees’ State Insurance Corporation and Directorate General of Mines Safety, the ministry would also hold consultations with the state ministers in developing a national employment policy.

Mallick, who is also Odisha’s Steel & Mines minister, later met Union Steel and Mines minister Narendra Singh Tomar and urged him to allow the Odisha government to collect mineral resources rent tax.

He also reiterated the old demand of the state government to increase the mineral royalty.

Special Train for Rath Yatra from Bhawanipatna

The New Indian Express (Bhubaneswar), July 26, 2014

SAMBALPUR:  The Sambalpur Railway Division under East Coast Railway (ECoR) has decided to run a special train from Bhawanipatna to Puri via Sambalpur and Angul during Rath Yatra.

The special train will leave Bhawanipatna at 8.30 am on June 28 and arrive at Puri at 3.05 am the next day.  On the return journey, the train will leave Puri at 11.25 pm on the same day and reach Bhawanipatna at 2.30 pm on July 30.  A large number of tourists from here visit Puri during the annual festival.

Senior Clerk Held

Bijay Kumar Routray (45), a senior clerk of Nuapada Tehsil, was arrested on charges of allegedly outraging the modesty of a colleague on Wednesday.

He was remanded in judicial custody after his bail plea was rejected. According to reports, on Tuesday, Routray allegedly made sexual advances towards a woman junior clerk who reported the matter to Nuapada police. Following her complaint, police arrested the accused from his office.

IB Report: Foreign NGOs behind anti-Vedanta Protest in Lanjigarh

Sambad, June 25, 2014

Maoists regrouping in Chura, locals jittery

Reported by Sri Anshuman Patra

Dharitri, June 22, 2014

Orissapost, June 22, 2014