ROURKELA: Put on the back burner for over a decade and half, the proposal for a truck terminal to de-congest Rourkela city has been finally revived. The truck terminal proposal will be replaced with a logistics-cum-fulfilment centre at Beldihi and preliminary works are underway in this regard.
A few days back, a delegation of Rourkela Chamber of Commerce and Industry (RCCI) met Sundargarh Collector Nikhil Pawan Kalyan to expedite the project and relieve the city from the intolerable traffic congestion.
Sources said that 11.92 acre of land at Beldihi has been allotted to the Odisha Carriers and Trade through IDCO on April 20 this year to develop the logistics-cum-fulfilment centre with private partnership. Now, the perimeter wall is being erected and work on the project is likely to start soon.
In 2005, a proposal to set up 'Transport Nagar' was conceptualised over 25 acre of land on the outskirts of Rourkela to restrict entry of heavy vehicles to the city. However, the proposal could not make any progress for almost eight years due to unavailability of vacant land.
In 2013, a land parcel of 14.56 acre was earmarked at Beldihi, around 5 km from Panposh, for the revised truck terminal project as part of the 'Transport Nagar'. When efforts were made to develop the land in 2015, tribal protesters forcibly stopped the work.
The truck terminal proposal envisaged associated facilities like transport offices, go-downs, shops, hotels, communities utility centres, accommodations, weigh-bridge and service garages. RCCI president Subrata Patnaik said the Collector assured to start work on the logistics-cum-fulfilment centre at Beldihi soon. But there is no clarity yet on the components of the upcoming centre.
"Rourkela is facing intolerable traffic congestion and it is essential to restrict movement of heavy goods-carrying vehicles inside the city without further delay as 17 years have passed sans any visible change on the ground," Patnaik added.
Kalyan was not immediately available for comment.