Cong chief Niranjan’s time less, task big
Even as the much awaited restructuring in Odisha Congress has put all speculations at rest, the grand old party has brought all the senior and experienced leaders to the forefront. That the State Congress would infuse new blood in the party hierarchy has now proved a misnomer and Congress president Rahul Gandhi has reposed faith on the experienced leaders so as to save the sagging Odisha unit. Though there is no dearth of youth leaders in Odisha, but the past experience of putting Prasad Harichandan at the helm has proved disastrousIJ Needless to say, ego-clash among leaders and factionalism within the party cost it dear. And, when the next general elections are less than a year to go, coupled with the State Congress’s poor performances ever since the Panchayat elections, the restructuring of the unit was highly necessary. New PCC chief Niranjan Patnaik may not have a magic wand to bring the Odisha Congress to power in 2019, but surely, the new change of guards would instill confidence among the leaders and party workers which will rejuvenate the party. Nevertheless, Patnaik’s hard task would be imposing discipline and keeping his folks together. Given the Ganjam Congress situation, when the exodus from the party is going nonstop every where in the State, Patnaik has to win the trust of leaders and workers from different factions within the unit. The surging BJP has pushed the Congress to back and taken the second position in the State. The poor performance of the party in the Bijepur by-poll has led to its face loss. Hence, time has come, Bhakta Charan Das, Pradip Majhi, Naba Das and Chiranjib Biswal, the second generation leaders in the Congress, have to show their skill and expertise.
Toll fees: Biju Expressway bane for travellers
The Biju Expressway between Rourkela and Sambalpur on a stretch of 180 km should have been a boon to the travellers but no; it is rather a bane, because they are paying more than Rs 200 at four toll plazas at Rourkela, Sundargarh, Jharsuguda and Sambalpur. Then again, for those whom want to travel to Chhatisgarh, they have to stop at many more toll gates and pay. Recently, travellers of Sambalpur and Sundargarh protested against toll tax collected from their respective zones but nobody heeded. The Highway Users Forum demanded shifting of the toll plazas of Bahadagoda on NH-6. The Ashoka Buildcom is charging heavily towards toll tax and travelling on this highway has become costlier for the locals. And for the journalists who travel regularly to gather news, payment of toll tax is unbearable.
Ore prices fall: Sponge iron, IF units buoyant
Private sector secondary iron and steel industries in Sundargarh district are buoyant after a fall in prices of iron ore and rise in demand for construction as they have returned to profit zone after a long gap. Drop in iron ore prices has been attributed to increased availability which reduced cost of production of sponge iron by about Rs 1,700 per tonne. Now sponge iron is priced at about Rs 20,000 per tonne and the profitability remains the same as the induction furnace industries consume sponge iron to manufacture ingots and billets. However, the sponge iron units were suffering largely due to high power cost. A changed scenario is visible in the past two months as with low sponge iron price and other factors, the induction furnace units are miraculously making profit after a gap of nearly five years. Downstream industries in rolling mills consume billets and ingots to manufacture steels, including TMT bars, angles and channels and they continue to be in good shape. Most of the industries were facing survival threat and the boom is welcomed by the industrial circle as all three types of inter connected industries in the value chain are happy. However, the industrial circle still holds the opinion that there is a further need to rationalise iron ore prices. Fear of loss of Government revenue due to fall in iron ore prices, however, seems untrue as increased volume and consumption would make up for the loss. Again, the hotel industries in Rourkela continue to suffer because of the high cost involved for meeting the pollution control norms. They are between the devil and the deep sea as the expenditure to meet the smart city norms outstrips their profit. Recently closer notices were issued to some hotels which made gross violation of the norms. The Regional Officer (RO) of the State Pollution Control Board (SPCB) said, “It is difficult to stand with a hanging sword on the hotel owners every time as in such a situation the public utility service might go haywire. But for those who are openly violating the norms we have to catch them wrong.” The fire safety people are doing their jobs of ensuring that the hotels situated in the clumsy areas of the city fulfill the guidelines issued to them. They are also ensuring that the hotels keep the required fire fighting gadgets in working condition and trained personnel to operate them in emergency.