BHUBANESWAR: The spectacularly ambitious multimodal hub project for which Odisha government and Railways have entered into a pact, in all likelihood will take time to get off ground.
The project which seeks to transform the city railway station into a state-of-the-art railway station, coupled with city bus terminal, multi-level car parking and dedicated pick up and drop off lanes for taxi, auto-rickshaws and other vehicles is planned over a whopping 1.74 lakh sq ft.
The MoU was signed between the East Coast Railways (ECoR) and Bhubaneswar Development Authority (BDA) in September 2019 but tender for the project has not been invited so far. Besides, the State government is yet to approve the expenditure of Rs 840 crore for the world class terminal which is one of the key projects under the Smart City programme in the State Capital.
BDA vice-chairman Prem Chandra Chaudhary said a detailed estimate of the project has been submitted to the government for approval. After government gives its go-ahead, tender will be floated, he added.Sources in the Housing and Urban Development department said, since the project requires a massive expenditure, it might need approval from the State Cabinet. He added that the COVID-19 pandemic has delayed the process.
The project planned four years back had its planning and design carried out by Surbana Jurong, a Singapore-based international design consultant roped in by BDA in 2017 while land acquisition for the project in the Master Canteen is complete.
The project has been divided into two components - public infrastructure component to be developed on engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) mode at a cost of Rs 300 crore and the mixed use real estate component which will be developed on PPP mode at an investment of Rs 540 crore. Work will be jointly undertaken by railway authorities, BDA and Bhubaneswar Smart City Limited.
An ECoR official informed that no meeting has been held for more than six months to discuss progress of the project. "A few changes were needed in the project design for which a meeting was held in May but there has been no progress since then," he said.
As part of the project, a flyover connecting the Master Canteen square with Cuttack-Puri road will also be constructed. With delay in the tendering process, timely execution of the project is unlikely. Deadline for the project is December 2022. The proposed project is supposed to be a mix of contemporary designs and traditional Kalingan style of architecture.