The much hyped National Waterway (NW) No. 5, which was designed to revive the age-old water transport system of Odisha Canal, seems to have lost its way after five long years of the enactment of the National Waterways Act, 2008 in Parliament.
Though the State Government is trying hard for the ambitious project, till date the Planning Commission has not indicated any fund allocation, forcing the Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI) to wait to undertake the NW No. 5 project, said a senior official in the Department of Commerce & Transport (DoCT) here.
For development of inland water transport, the Union Government had declared the Talcher-Dhamra stretch of the Brahmani-Kharsuan-Dhamra river system along with the Geonkhali-Charbatia stretch of the East Coast Canal, the Charbatia-Dhamra stretch of Matei river and Mahanadi delta between Mangalgadi and Paradip as NW No 5.
The total distance from Geonkhali to Cahrbatia is 217 km, of which 91 km is in West Bengal and the rest is in Odisha. The total estimate of the project cost was Rs 4,953 crore.
This waterway was to provide an alternative mode of transportation from coalmines and other industries of Odisha to the Paradip, Dhamra and Haldia Ports. With the Union Government delaying implementation of the project, the Odisha Government took initiative to rope in support of the Paradip Port Trust (PPT), the Nalco, the Mahanadi Coalfields ltd (MCl) and the Odisha Mining Corporation (OMC).
The PPT, headed by Sudhansu Sekhara Mishra, took the lead in the move to connect the East Coast Canal with river Brahmani and Mahanadi delta.
These major players in the State’s infrastructure, industry and mining sectors evinced keen interest to form a joint venture (JV) with the IWAI for development of NW No. 5 with active support from the State Government. The State Government informed the IWAI about the move for a JV to develop and operate NW No. 5.
However, the IWAI authorities are facing fund crunch as both the Planning Commission and the Government of India’s Department of Economic Affairs (DEA) are not allocating the required funds to undertake the project, reveal official sources. The State Government has taken up the matter with the Union Ministry of Shipping and the Planning Commission with little result, admit insiders.
Repeated requests to open a Regional Office of the IWAI in Bhubaneswar have also yielded no result. Setting up of this office is much necessary for better coordination to take up developmental activities as the IWAI is having its office at Noida and the top brass of the authority hardly visit Odisha, pointed out an official.