The need for bypass roads to move mining traffic away from settlement areas and towns was felt almost a decade back
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Now that iron ore mining is nearly back on track and the future does not look as gloomy as it was, when the industry was forced to shut down, it might be the right time to build a corridor for ore to be transported from the mines to loading points at Capxem. The government has an ambitious plan to spend Rs 223 crore to construct a two-lane corridor with a provision for expansion, should mining pick up in the following years. The construction will be divided into two phases “ Uguem to Guddemol which is around 8.8 km and Guddemol to Capxem which comprises 7.3 km. The project will include a railway over bridge, flyover and several subways.
The need for bypass roads to move mining traffic away from settlement areas and towns was felt almost a decade back. There were two plans “ one to link the Codli mines to an area away from Capxem. This road, which was to be totally financed by a mining company, would have decongested Sanvordem Tisk, but taken business away and damaged mangroves. Opposition to it ensured that it never saw the light of day. The second was from Uguem to Capxem. Although the fortunes of Curchorem town are linked to the mining industry, the downside of this symbiotic existence is dust, traffic congestion and accidents. Hence, even though mining has slowed down, mining corridors are still required.
When mining was at its peak (prior to 2012) mining companies were willing to finance construction of the corridors. But a three-year shutdown has altered the economic equation and the government will now have to find the money to undertake its construction to ensure uninterrupted flow of iron ore to the barge-loading points. The situation might have been different if the international iron-ore market was buoyant. Ore prices have dropped through the floor and mining companies are no longer in a position to finance the corridor. Besides, a cap placed by the Supreme Court on the quantum of ore that can be mined in a financial year, has prevented the industry from running at full steam.
One of the hurdles in the way of construction of this corridor was forest clearance. In the first phase, 2.17 km of the corridor runs through forest area and over 10 hectares of land needs to be acquired for construction. In the second phase, 4.09 km lies in forest area and over 17 hectares needs to be acquired. Chief Minister Laxmikant Parsekar has assured that forest clearances have been taken care of and he is pushing for early release of the tenders. Construction of the corridor will take some time, but for the government, which wants to go to the polls in a positive frame of mind, just floating the tender before elections are announced, will give it an added advantage in 2017. To put it plainly, this could be a win-win-win for the government, people and the industry.
