| Sunday , November 29 , 2015 |
http://www.telegraphindia.com/1151129/jsp/frontpage/story_55710.jsp#.Vlo3JVgrLZY
National waterway trial by December end- 300-tonne barge being brought from Calcutta to Dhamra for the purpose |
| SUBRAT DAS |
.jpg) The plan of National Waterway No. 5 "The trial operation will be conducted between Dhamra and Erada," S. Dandapat, chief engineer of the Inlands Authority of India, which is carrying out the project, told The Telegraph. An Authority official said a 300-tonne barge was being brought from Calcutta to Dhamra to carry out the trial operation. The 201-km stretch between Jokadia near Kalinganagar and Paradip and Dhamra ports is being developed by the Noida-based central government agency in the first phase in association with the state government, Paradip and Dhamra ports. This will be part of the national waterway being planned between Talcher coalfields and Haldia port in Bengal, the idea of which was conceived in 2008. On June 30 last year, the authority had a signed an MoU with the state government, Paradip Port Trust and Dhamra Port Company Limited for the development of the first phase of the project. In the second phase, the stretch between Talcher and Jokadia (131km) will be developed. The two-phase project with a length of 332km will be executed at an estimated cost of Rs 2,000 crore. The proposed waterway will help the industries in Kalinganagar and Vyasa Nagar industrial hub, along with the mines in Talcher and Daitary, to transport their goods through the two major ports of the state. While a number of steel plants have come up at Kalinganagar, there are several coal mines in Talcher and iron ore and chromite mines in Daitary. Tata's three-million tonne steel plant was also recently inaugurated at Kalinganagar. To facilitate the trial operation of cargo vessels, a temporary terminal at Erada near Bari in Jajpur district is being developed and seven acres has been identified for the purpose, said an official source. Two agencies have been selected to dredge the non-tidal waterway from Erada to Padanipal. They are in the process of mobilising equipment for the dredging, said an official associated with the project. Water and Power Consultancy Services Limited had prepared the original detailed project report in 2010, which is being updated, said the authority's deputy project director Abinash Roul. The IIT Guwahati has been entrusted with the job to conduct mathematical model studies for the Brahmani delta river system, where the project is being implemented. Inland Waterways Consortium (Odisha) Limited is being set up to develop a permanent terminal near Kalinganagar. The Odisha Industrial Infrastructure Development Corporation (Idco) is co-ordinating the work of setting up of the joint venture company. While the authority is collecting land records for location of the permanent terminal facilities, Dhamra Port Company Limited has already completed a barge jetty in their port area. The port trust has already identified a location for setting up their captive terminal near Atharbanki along the Mahanadi. Commerce and transport minister Ramesh Chandra Majhi, who reviewed the progress of the waterway project on November 13, has asked the authority to stick to the execution schedule and ensure that the trial took place by the end of December. "Regular review meetings should be held among the inlands authority, state water resources department and the commerce department to sort out bottlenecks at the field level," said Majhi. |