Balasore: Members of a local outfit based in Balasore, MPs of Bhadrak and Balasore districts have pressed for restoration of the Odisha Coast Canal in Balasore. The coast canal, built during the British regime, has been part of the National Waterway-5.
A delegation of Odisha Coast Canal Punaruddhar Manch recently met Medinapur MP Dillip Ghose at Kharagpur and held discussion about renovation of Coast Canal and Hijili Tidal Canal.
They said if the canal is revived, it would provide an alternative mode of transport in terms of inland water channel for the people of Balasore and Bhadrak districts and would also help protect the countryside villages from saline water ingress and high tides during cyclones.
Notably, the construction of the 217-km canal was started in 1880-81 to protect people from acute famine with an estimated cost of Rs 36 lakh. Later it was renovated in 1888.
Apart from providing relief to the state’s famine-struck people during ‘Na-anka Durbhikhya (great famine), it proved to be a boon for undivided Balasore by opening up trade, transport and communication routes from Deokhali in West Bengal to Charibatia in Bhadrak and Balasore.
Balasore MP Pratap Sarangi and Bhadrak MP Manjulata Mandal have pressed for revival of the canal.
The canal covers 13 km in Bhograi, 14 km in Jamkunda in Baliapal and 13 km from Jamkunda to Madhata.
Similarly, it connects the Hooghly river at Geonkhali, 72 km from Kolkata, with the Mantei river at Charbatia near Bhadrak.
Its length in the state is 147.2 km and is divided into four ranges. The canal apparently lost its importance after the opening of railway links between Howrah and Cuttack via Balasore in 1897. The canal is a unique heritage of the British era. Despite having multiple benefits, it has been lying without utility for years at a time when priority is being given to revival of inland water channels.
PNN