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Bhubaneswar-Paradip highway -- A new road for Orissa

Santanu Sanyal

THE PARADIP Port Trust (PPT) will shortly appeal to the Union Government for the construction of a new national highway on a toll basis between Bhubaneswar and Paradip, bypassing Cuttack.

The PPT placed the matter for consideration before the Union Minister of State for Surface Transport, Mr. Hukum Deo Narayan Yadav, who promised to take it up with the appropriate authorities. PPT will shortly submit a formal application to the government , according to port sources.

The present 120 km-long Bhubaneswar-Paradip road, passing through congested Cuttack, is affected by various problems. The road is narrow, congestion acute, accidents frequent, and due to the cumulative effect of these, the delays inordinate.

A large number of heavy duty road tankers are driven on the present Bhubaneswar-Paradip road daily, with consignments of petroleum products from Paradip port to Southern Orissa. Built several years ago, the road is not wide enough for the smooth flow of dense traffic. Also, the road's condition leaves much to be desired, stretches of which were badly damaged by last October's supercyclone.

The need for a new national highway between the two major cities has also become imperative because of the massive 9 mtpa (million tonnes per annum) capacity grassroot refinery (to be stepped up to 12 mtpa eventually) being set up at Paradip by the India n Oil Corporation (IOC).

The preliminary survey suggests the proposed NH (National Highway), estimated to cost Rs 400 crores, will reduce the distance between Bhubaneswar and Paradip by about 40 km. At present, the alternative NH5A route from Bhubaneswar to Paradip means negotia ting a congested Cuttack and an additional 50 km. Iron and chrome ore are mainly transported on this route.

The PPT, it is learnt, has also urged the Minister to discuss with the Railways the doubling of the 83 km Cuttack-Paradip section of the 195 km-long Talcher-Paradip railway line. However, it has been pointed out, that the work is proceeding slowly.

A reason for this may be the delay in the construction of the two huge railway bridges over the Mahanadi and the Birupa rivers. According to South Eastern Railway (SER) sources, the scheduled date for completion of the bridges' construction is December 3 1, 2002. The added that the Talcher-Cuttack section measures 112 kms. Doubling is complete on a 96 km-stretch and work is in progress on another four km.

However, the railway bridges will rise on the 44 km-long Nirgundi-Cuttack-Rahama stretch. The scheduled completion date of the doubling work on this stretch is August 31, 2002. Doubling is complete on the 28 km-long Raghunathpur-Gorakhnath-Rahama stretch of the Cuttack-Paradip section, while work is progressing on the 23 km-long stretch between Rahama and Paradip. The schedule date for completion of Rahama-Paradip stretch is December 31, 2001.By the time the IOC's Paradip refinery is ready for productio n, the doubling of the Cuttack-Paradip section will be complete, observe SER sources confidently. However, they are not sure how much of the refinery's production will be ultimately moved by the rail route, as there has been talk of coastal movements of the bulk of the production of the proposed refinery.