Visakhapatnam – Jagdalpur train to run upto Kirandul now

27 November 2017

Fulfilling more than threedecade demand of local public of Kirandul region for running an express train in their area, Indian Railways has extended the existing special train between Visakhapatnam-Jagdalpur upto Kirandul in Dantewada district of Chhattisgarh  from  November 20,  a Union Railway Ministry press release informed on Tuesday.

This is the first ‘express’ category train for the people of Kirandul which is a Left Wing Extremist (LWE) affected area, it informed.

Union Minister of Railways and Coal Piyush Goyal in his recent tour to Chhattisgarh had promised to extend this train to Kirandul following a request from  Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh.

Under the direction of the Union Minister, this work was expedited and the promise was fulfilled within a fortnight.

This train passes through insurgency infested Dantewad district with full security, it informed.

The inauguration for extension of this Train No. 08152 Visakhapatnam– Jagdalpur to Kirandul was done on November 20, 2017 by  Kedar Kashyap, Minister of Education, Govt. of Chhattisgarh in the presence of  Dinesh Kashyap, Member of Parliament, Bastar along with local MLA, Mayor and other dignitaries.

The inaugural run of the train was received with  enthusiasm by the people of Kirandul.

They were delighted with the arrival of first Mail and Express train to their area Kirandul which will connect them to Delhi, Chennai, Howrah etc. via Visakhapatnam.

Meanwhile, NMDC Ltd is making efforts to increase iron ore evacuation capacity through doubling of Kirandul-Kothavalasa (KK) railway line, officials informed.

Notably, the company is also participating in the Rowghat-Jagdalpur Rail line project as a major stakeholder with 43  per cent share along with SAIL, IRCON and Govt. of Chhattisgarh being other stake holders with 21per cent , 26 per cent and 10 per cent respectively.

On the other hand, Chhattisgarh Government would be earmarking suitable land banks in the vicinity of Dallirajahara-Rowghat-Jagdalpur Rail Corridor for setting up of small industrial units, officials informed.

Notably, the  Steel Authority of India Ltd (SAIL) is co-ordinating the  construction of Railway line from DaIlirajhara to Rowghat covering a distance of 95 km with Indian Railways in Chhattisgarh.

The project for doubling of Railway line between Kirandul and Jagdalpurin Chhatisgarh’s insurgency ridden  Bastar region is expected to be complete by January 2019, official sources informed.

Notably, NMDC Ltd had also signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Union Ministry of Railways on December 21, 2012 and the aforesaid project would be helpful in significantly augmenting evacuation capacity of NMDC’s Bailadila Sector mines by rail from the existing 28 MTPA to 40 MTPA of iron ore.

NMDC had deposited an amount of Rs 150 crores with East Coast Railwayand the expenditure incurred as on March 31, 2015 was Rs 132.00 crore, sources informed. For execution of the project, the Railways has divided the 150 km length of doubling work into three Sections namely, Jagdalpur to Silakjori 45.50 km, Kirandul to Gidam 52.23 km and Silakjori to Gidam 52.73 km.

Notably, the Rs 2000 crore Rowghat to Jagdalpur railway line would also pass through heavily insurgency infested Kondagaon and Narayanpur districts of Bastar division in Chhattisgarh, officials stated.

The project is a joint venture between Chhattisgarh government, NMDC, SAIL and IRCON.The initial stretch of the first phase of the ambitious 235-km-long Dallirajhara-Rowghat-Jagdalpur Railway line project in Bastar division of Chhattisgarh has been completed, officials stated.

In all, 17 km Rail track has been completed in the first phase and Chief Minister Raman Singh has expressed happiness over the achievement, they stated. A successful trial run of a Railway diesel engine was also carried out earlier between Dallirajhara till Gudum village at the speed of 20 km per hour.

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 Rail corridor 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, Coal India Ltd (CIL) is putting all its resources together to ensure its flagship subsidiary South Eastern Coalfields Ltd (SECL) is able to transport more coal easily to its customers, officials informed.

Notably, the East West Corridor project from Gevra to Pendra in Chhattisgarh with a length of about 122 kms is being executed by Chhattisgarh East West Rail Ltd (CEWRL), which is a joint venture company formed by South Eastern Coalfields Ltd (SECL) , IRCON and Chhattisgarh government.

The project had been undertaken for evacuation of coal from SECL’s Gevra-Korba coalfields.

The Union Ministry of Coal has ensured Coal India Ltd (CIL) for getting Mand-Raigarh railway line project expedited to facilitate growth in offtake of coal from mines under South Eastern Coalfields Ltd (SECL) in Chhattisgarh.  Notably, the  coal requirement for the proposed Super Thermal Plant of NTPC Ltd at Lara would be met from Talaipalli Coal Block of Mand in Raigarh Coalfields, officials stated.

NMDC is making an expenditure of Rs 41.16 crore for enabling facilities needed for doubling of railway line between Kirandul and Jagdalpur and Jagdalpur-Ambagaon section for augmentation of iron ore evacuation from Bailadila mines in Baster region of Chhattisgarh.

The company is also going for enhancement of production capacity enhancement of iron ore from 4.2 MTPA to 6 MTPA at its Bailadila Deposit no 10 in Dantewada district of South Bastar region in Chhattisgarh, officials informed.

It has already commenced work for setting up the 2.0 MTPA Pellet Plant at Nagarnar near Jagdalpur in Bastar region of Chhattisgarh, officials informed.

Notably, the company has made a capital expenditure of Rs 4.76 crore as on September 2016 for development of its Bailadila iron ore mines in Bastar region of Chhattisgarh during the last financial year, officials informed.

The company is now going for construction of the 5th iron ore screening line at its existing screening plant number 2 at Bailadila Iron Ore Mine at Kirandul complex in Dantewada district of Bastar region.

It may also be recalled that NMDC has proposed to use its mine lease area at Deposit number 4 located at Bailadila range of hills at Bhansi near Bacheli in South Bastar’s Dantewada district in Chhattisgarh for meeting the raw material requirement ‘exclusively’ for its upcoming 3 MTPA Integrated Steel Plant at Nagarnar, officials informed.

The remaining iron ore quantity after meeting the requirement of integrated steel plant at Nagarnar from  Deposit 4 will be sold to domestic customers in Chhattisgarh, they informed.

The Deposit – 4 iron ore mine will be developed as a ‘standalone project’ with an estimated investment of Rs 1899.74 crores.

Notably, NMDC proposes for mining the Deposit number 4 iron ore mine with a production capacity of 7.0 MTPA in the mine lease area of 646.596 hectares.

Notably, NMDC’s  iron ore requirement for the steel plant would be 5 MTPA. The exploration work was done at Bailadila Deposit No. 4 by NMDC in the year back in 1972-74.

The ore reserves were proved by detailed exploration activities.  The Deposit 4 has  a production capacity of 7.0 MTPA and spread in a mining lease area of 646.596 hectares.

In addition to the mining lease area, 95.13 hectares forest land is identified for development of infrastructure such as downhill conveyor, screening plant, loading plant and approach road etc.

Further, 50 hectares of non-forest land is also required for installation of railway stock yard, administrative building, loading plant (part), tailing dam, STP and township etc.

The existing iron ore production from other Bailadila mines is catering to requirements of large steel plants and also to local sponge iron / pelletplants in Chhattisgarh.

Mining plan along with progressive mine closure plan has been approved by Indian Bureau of Mines (IBM), for production capacity of 7.0 MTPA vide their letter no: No 314(3)/2012-MCCM (CZ)/MP-19 dated July 26, 2013, officials informed.

Source: Daily Pioneer