Port Projects Face Legal Hurdles In Odisha

Bhubaneswar: The development of ports in Odisha has received a setback due to legal hurdles and land acquisition, said a minister.

Commerce and Transports minister Ramesh Majhi told the state Assembly that the government has identified 13 places for construction of non-major ports.

These are Bichitrapur, Subarnarekha bank, Bahabalpur, Chandipur and Inchudi in Balasore, Chudamani and Dhamara in Bhadrak, Jatadhari bank in Jagatsingtipur, Astaranga and Baliharichandi in Puri and Palur, Gopalpur and Bahuda in Ganjam.

The state government has signed MoUs with Dhamara, Subarnarekha and Astarang port projects, said the minister.

While Dhamara port has been made functional since 2011, the state government has acquired 692.69 acres land for Subarnarekha project. However, the land is yet to be handed over to the department as a case is pending with Orissa High Court, said the minister.

A total of 961-acre land is required for the project, he said.

About Chudamani project, the minister said a case is sub-judice in the High Court for which the MoU signing is getting delayed.

In 2011, a petition was filed against state government’s port policy terming its MoU signing process ‘illegal’, said the minister.

As the matter is sub-judice, the government has not been able to take up projects, he added.