Political tug-of-war puts brakes on wagon factory

Times of India, May 18, 2012
BALANGIR: A wagon factory promised by former Railway minister Mamata Banerjee in the 2010 Railway Budget is yet to come up in the state with politicians engaging in a tug of war to set it up in their own area. While chief minister Naveen Patnaik wants it in Ganjam, Congress MP from Kalahandi Bhakta Das has been lobbying for the factory to be set up in Narla in Kalahandi. Recently, BJD MP from Balangir Kalikesh Narayan Singhdeo joined the bandwagon by writing to Railway minister Mukul Roy on Tuesday asking for the factory to be set up in Kantabanji in Balangir.


Kalikesh, in his letter to Roy, has argued that Railways has 125 acre vacant land in Kantabanji and there is no point in going for land acquisition in other area, which is a lengthy and hassle-some process. He also said this would be a logical and easy way to resolve disputes arising out of demands for the factory in the area.

In Kalahandi, on the other hand, the Narla Rail Wagon Nirman Sangram Samiti has been demanding the factory to be located at Narla. "There is enough land, more than 500 acres each, in Narla, Kesinga, Lanjigarh Road, Jaring, which can be easily used for establishing the factory. More than 180 acres of unused non-forest land owned by the government is also available near Sardar Medical College in Jaring adjacent to railway track," said Niranjan Pradhan, a member of the outfit.

Recently, people in Kalahandi, led by MP Bhakta Das, protested against the government's unwillingness to set up the factory at Narla, by wearing black badges. While the MP has held chief minister Naveen Patnaik responsible for the project being a non-starter, local BJD leaders have been blaming Das for misguiding people. At a recent press conference in Kalahandi, district BJD president Balabhadra Majhi and labour and employment minister Pushpendra Singh Deo informed that the chief minister has been pressing for the factory to be set up at Sitalapalli in Ganjam's Brahmapur tehsil, adjacent to the Kolkata-Chennai highway.