BL reported that the final hurdle to rail connectivity having been overcome, Dhamra Port Company, which is building a new port at Dhamra in Orissa is keen that the construction of railway lines over an 80 kilometer stretch is complete within the deadline. The targeted date of commissioning the port is April 2010.
The 80 kilometer Dhamra port rail network is to connect the port with the Indian Railways network at Bhadrak. The port railway network will pass through 74 villages covering nearly 2,000 acres.
According to port sources, the last round of dispute that dragged for some time delaying the work, center around the acquisition of about 700 meters of land in Khedarpur village. The dispute was recently resolved.
However, the port authorities do not foresee any problem as the acquisition issue has been settled satisfactorily with the railways. Spokesman for ECoR said “East Coast Railway of course is still to sign the land licensing agreement with Dhamra Port Company, however, other formalities have been complied with, such as the layout for bridges, crossovers, the junction points and other details as submitted by Dhamra Port Company have all been approved.”
Meanwhile, about 60% of the constructions of the 62 kilometer embankment on which the rail-lines will be laid have been completed and the work on the balance is at various stages of completion; at some places, it is at advanced stage. However, what causes concern is the impending monsoon.
During monsoon, the work on embankment may be difficult to complete, though, as the sources feel, the work on the construction of bridges and culverts, which will be part of the rail connectivity may continue. In other words, the pace of post monsoon work will have to be accelerated to meet the deadline. According to original estimate, the port connectivity a will cost INR 600 crore.
