The Union Ministry of Road Transport and Highways has identified five level crossings for construction of ROBs under Setu Bharatam in Chhattisgarh through budgetary support, officials informed.
Feasibility study of 87 RoBs in the country have been completed in the country. The visual condition survey of bridges on National Highways has been undertaken under Indian Bridge Management System. 147 bridges have been found to be under rated, requiring detailed study.
The IRC guidelines (IRC 112-2011) relating to design of bridges have been issued to make bridges durable in various exposure conditions. The Government has decided to have standard drawings on the basis of the above guidelines.
As many as 29 Road Over Bridges (RoBs) have been sanctioned by the Central government during the last financial year under South East Central Railway (SECR) division .
At present, there are 1,156 sanctioned works for construction of 1,399 ROBs across the country, officials stated.
Fund for construction of Road Over Bridges (ROBs)/Road Under Bridges (RUBs)/Subways; elimination of level crossings and other safety works related to level crossings come from Central Road Fund (CRF) as a percentage of cess collected on petrol and diesel by Ministry of Finance. Present throwforward of these works is Rs 31,700 crores approximately.
Notably, the development of two key Rail corridors in mineral-rich Chhattisgarh is now set to expand the Railway line network by 45 per cent in the State, officials stated.
The completion of Dallirajhara-Rowghat-Jagdalpur, East and East-West Railcorridor projects will comprise a total of 535 kilometers Railway-line during the next two to four years, they stated.
The East West Rail Corridor project is expected to get completed in 2018-19.
The corridor is to facilitate movement of about 60 million tonnes of coal to various parts of the country apart from providing passenger train facility for the local populace of the region.
The length of the rail track would be 135.30 kms.The Chhattisgarh East West Railway ltd is the implementing agency for the project.
Notably, the Centre has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) each with the States of Odisha, Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh for critical coal connectivity projects to improve transportation .
Agreement for World Bank loan of US $ 1100 million for Eastern Dedicated Freight Corridor (DFC) (Phase-2) have also been signed, they stated.
Freight train with speed of maximum 100 kms per hour will pass through Chhattisgarh in the East-West Corridor (Kolkata-Mumbai).
The train will traverse through the States of West Bengal, Jharkhand, Odisha, Chhattisgarh and Maharashtra as the Ministry of Railways has sanctioned implementation of Eastern Dedicated Freight Corridor (EDFC) and Western Dedicated Freight Corridor (WDFC) with freight train speeds of maximum 100 Kmph.
The Central government’s approval for construction of 165 km long thirdrailway line between Anuppur and Katni in Madhya Pradesh is expected to facilitate additional coal transportation traffic from parts of Chhattisgarh.
The coal transporation traffic from IB valley, Korba area, East Corridor and Gevra – Pendra Road Project in Chhattisgarh would be channelized through the aforesaid route to the respective destinations, officials stated.
The Centre has approved the project at a cost of Rs 1595.76 crore. The project is likely to be completed in 5 ¼ years spanning over 12th and 13th plan period.
The Cabinet Committee of Economic Affairs, chaired by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has also approved construction of six Railway lines and aRailway bridge to cater to both increased passenger and freight needs in various areas of the country.
Public sector IRCON International ltd has also commenced work in connection with the construction of new ‘Broad Guage Electrified DoubleRailway line’ in Chhattisgarh on the East West Corridor.
The work is being undertaken in Gevra Road-Pendra Road and Dipka, Kathghora, Sendurgahr and Pasan sections, officials stated.
Notably, the South East Central Sector which includes Chhattisgarh is also set to play a key role in Central government’s ambitious coalloading and transportation plans.
A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) has been signed recently between Ministry of Railways and Coal India limited (CIl) which will lead to procurement of 2000 wagons (33 rakes) in the first outgo, officials stated.
The agreement which will result into speedy supply of wagons for coal loading in dedicated circuits.
Initially, the rakes will be inducted and run in the 2 main coal loading Zones of Indian Railways i.e South East Central coal sector and East Coast circuit.
These rakes will be inducted in circuits for transporting coal from MCl Talcher & IB area and SECl to Paradip/Dharma ports, Vishakhapatnam area and the power houses of Nagpur/Raipur region.
Under this strategic partnership, the wagons will be procured by Indian Railways on behalf of CIl, the maintenance of these wagons will be done by Railways at its own cost. Also, the brake vans will be provided by Railways itself.
SECl has put its underground (UG) coal production target projections at 22 million tonnes (MT) by 2019-20.
The company compared to its underground coal excavation target by the aforesaid period has set a significantly higher coal production target projections from its open cast (OC) mines at 228 MT, officials stated. The Coal India ltd (CIl) recorded the coal offtake jump of 14.1 per cent from the mines of its flagship -- South Eastern Coalfields ltd (SECl) at 12.44 million tonnes against the target of 12.22 million tonnes in April 2017, the company informed in a BSE filing.
Notably, CIl had recorded offtake of coal from its largest subsidiary SECl at 124.34 million tonnes between April 2015 to February 2016.
This was against the target of 123.89 million tonnes (MT) which was a growth of 11.1 per cent.