The Pioneer 24.12.2013
Waterway proposed to link K Nagar, Angul, Talcher
hubs of Kalinganagar, Angul and Talcher, the State Government has
proposed connecting of the Inland Waterway No-5 to these regions. The
State Government, in its latest move, has recently sent a proposal in
this regard to the Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI).
According to sources in the Department of Commerce & Transport
(DoCT), this stretch of the proposed waterway is commercially viable and
can be undertaken under public-private partnership (PPP) mode. This
water route would provide an alternative mode of transportation from
coalmines and industrial zones to the Paradip and Dhamra Ports.
The State Government would form a joint venture firm with participation
of the Odisha Mining Corporation (OMC), the Mahanadi Coalfields Limited
(MCL) and the Paradip Port Trust (PPT) to develop this stretch, said an
official.
For development of inland water transport, the Union Government has
declared the Talcher-Dhamra stretch of the Brahmani-Kharsuan-Dhamra
river system along with the Geonkhali-Charbatia stretch of the East
Coast Canal stretch of Matei river and Mahanadi river between Mangalgadi
and Paradip as National Waterway No-5 in both Odisha and West Bengal.
PPT Chairman Sudhansu Sekhara Mishra, during his tenure as Member
Traffic of the IWAI, took a lot of interest in developing the project in
the interest of the State, and now he is actively supporting the move
of the State Government, said a senior officer in the DoCT.
Development of inland waterways would go a long way in releasing the
congestion on the road for which the State Government is keen to develop
the canal portion of the project. This is because the IWAI Chairman is
also keen to open a Regional Office of the IWAI in Bhubaneswar and
undertake the project work in a time-bound manner. However the canal
portion would be taken up in the second phase after development of river
portion, said an official.
Meanwhile, the IWAI has taken the support of the Asian Development Bank
(ADB) to develop the river portion of the Inland Waterway No-5 and the
ADB has already appointed a consultant to formulate project proposal for
selection of a concessionaire to take up development of the river
portion on PPP mode. The consultant, Grant Thornton, has already started
its work in this regard.
