Land acquisition, environment clearance delay hit mega projects

Mostly Infrastructure Development Projects are being taken up in the State are facing land acquisition problems which are needed to be sorted out urgently.

At least 12 Railways projects worth Rs 15,000 crore and power projects worth nearly Rs 12,500 crore are being implemented in the State besides the Ministry of Coal projects worth Rs 10,000 crore. These projects are needed to be implemented in a time-bound manner.

Similarly, environmental issues also need resolution in a time-bound manner as project implementation is delayed resulting in cost escalation.

Looking at the perspective of the State economy, these projects will come as a boost when completed. While Railways, power, road Transport and some other Ministries of the Union The government are sponsoring several projects in Odisha, the pace of progress is needed to be expedited, feel senior officers in the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT).

Guruprasad Mohapatra, Secretary DPIIT recently reviewed the progress of the projects, which are included in the Project Monitoring Group (PMG), said official sources adding, he urged the State Government to expedite the resolution of issues about land acquisition, environmental and other issues in a time-bound manner.

Coal mining projects worth Rs.10,000 crore of Mahanadi Coalfields Limited are being implemented and land-related issues are posing stumbling blocks for the implementation of these Projects, officials admit.

Similarly, a power project worth over Rs.12,000 crore implemented in Sundargarh requires Right of Way (RoW) clearance for which tower erection work is being delayed, said the sources. The National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) is facing trouble in the implementation of some of its projects due to delay in payment of compensation and authorities need to decide in this regard at an early date, officials said.

The Rail Vikash Nigam Limited (RVNL) is facing a tough time to implement new rail projects, which require resolution of land acquisition and compensation issues, they said adding, new rail projects are facing forest clearance and other statutory clearance issues under the Forest Rights Act.

The Khurda-Balangir rail project, which requires 4900 acres of land acquisition, demands time-bound action and officials are not taking the the required amount of interest in this regard, officials of Indian Railways rue. Some other major railway projects also face land acquisition problems, the sources added.

While Chief Secretary and senior Secretaries are taking interest in sorting out the issues at State level, the officials at District and Tehsil levels have a lukewarm response.