Jamshedpur, Nov. 30: Chief Minister Raghubar Das on Monday said that work on the ambitious Eastern Corridor Project linking Burmamines in the city to the NH-33 via a flyover will start in the next couple of months.
Talking to the newsmen at local Circuit House, Das said his government had already given the green signal for this ambitious worth over Rs 1,300 crore project initiated by Tata Steel and the matter was currently pending with the company’s board of directors for the final nod. The project will be carried out in a PPP mode.
The objective of the Eastern and West Corridor Projects is to directly link the arterial NH-33 and state highway networks with the city and major industrial units through dedicated eastern and western corridors.
The master plan involves construction of a dedicated corridor (eastern) directly connecting the steel city and its satellite areas, including major industrial hubs, with NH-33 by constructing a third bridge over the Subernarekha River. A western peripheral road connecting the Power House-3 with the Adityapur toll bridge is also in the offing.
Set to come up in a public private partnership mode, the work on the road-link project will be taken up jointly by the state government and Tata Steel. The ambitious project, which aims to link the eastern part of the city with the western part through multiple road links and flyover, is held-up for the last several years.
�We are confident that all hurdles for the eastern road corridor project have been cleared and work can be seen at the ground level. We are looking into all aspects of the project and compliances at all level have been cleared,� said Das.
The Chief Minister also informed that he has instructed the State Road Construction department to undertake a major repairing work from Pardih to Tamar on the on NH-33 immediately.
Jubilee Park
Meanwhile, some of residents from the steel city had met the Chief Minister and apprised him about the decision of the district administration to close the Jubilee Park at 8 pm. The residents, including the students had urged him to either stop the administration from closing the park so early or extend the timing of closure. Taking note of the people’s complain, the Chief Minister instructed the East Singhbhum deputy commissioner, Amitabh Kaushal to extend the closure time of the Jubilee Park from 9 p.m. instead of 8 p.m. from tomorrow.
Food processing industry
In reply to a question, the CM said that Jharkhand�has attracted over Rs 880 crore investments in the food processing sector since the state government formulated a policy for the industry a few months ago.�
“We have already procured Rs 880 crore investments in the food processing sector ever since we have framed a policy for the sector,” Das said.�
Five of the investors have already procured land for to set up units and are expected to start construction soon, Das said, adding that there is no dearth of land in Jharkhand for development projects.�
The investment scenario in the state got a boost following implementation of single-window and e-commerce system in the state, he said.�
Stating that food processing sector has a vast opportunity to grow in Jharkhand, Das said several investors have shown keen interest.
Lohardaga by-poll
Responding to a query, the Chief Minister said that people of Jharkhand want a Congress-free state to get all-round development and will vote in that direction in the by-election for the Lohardaga Assembly constituency.
“People of Lohardaga will reply in the December 14 by-poll as they want a Congress-free Jharkhand,” Das said.
Congress is a sinking ship, he said, referring to the drubbing the party received in the Lok Sabha election last year. “They (Congress) could not even bag enough number of seats in the 2014 elections to stake claim for the post of Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha,” Das said. He said though Congress has its MLA or MP in Lohardaga for the last four decades, there was no development there. Lohardaga remained a backward district, where rampant migration of poor people continued in search of livelihood, the Chief Minister said and blamed Congress for it.
The Lohardaga Assembly seat fell vacant after its MLA — AJSU’s Kamal Kishore Bhagat was sentenced to seven years in jail by a local court in connection with a criminal case.