Public Notice

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

A.         Project Description

Government of India (GoI) has received a sector loan for Railways from Asian Development Bank (ADB).  The loan is being utilized by Ministry of Railways (MoR), for implementation of projects, construction and doubling of railway lines under various rail zones in the country to address the increasing passenger services and flow. Rail Vikas Nigam Limited (RVNL) is the Executing Agency for this project.

One of the corridors identified for modernization and doubling is Cuttack – Barang, a section of Howrah – Chennai main line located in Cuttack district in the state of Orissa. As part of the Project, it is proposed to construct a railway line parallel to the existing one from Cuttack – Barang. The total length of this subproject is 11.715 km from Cuttack to Barang of East Coast Railway (ECR) and the entire project section traverses through only Cuttack district of Orissa. The total project length of 11.715 kms has been divided into the following sections:

Section 1:        Cuttack – Gopalpur – Balikuda

 Section 2:        Gopalpur – Balikuda – Barang

This RP identifies the broad scope of this subproject and outlines the policy, procedures for acquisition of land, compensation and other assistance measures for affected persons and institutional requirements for this subproject under the loan.

B.     Project impacts and benefits

The Project is expected to bring forward positive benefits (while causing some negative social impact, which are proposed to be mitigated fully) for the communities living or doing business within the proposed RoW. The project will strengthen the regional network of transport infrastructure serving West Bengal, Chhattisgarh and Andhra Pradesh. In addition, to this the project will also augment the domestic transport system. These improvements will support growth in sub regional trade and investment, thereby contributing to economic growth and poverty reduction.

In terms of social issues and impacts, the project construction will not entail any land acquisition but will involve impact on residential commercial, Residential cum commercial structures and Kiosks. Based on the census survey, it is estimated that a total of 34 households comprising of a total of 235 affected persons will be affected as a result of the project. The impacts of the project only include loss of Structures (Residential, commercial, Residential cum commercial and Kiosks) and livelihood of squatters but no impacts on land (agriculture, residential and commercial), community, income and, community and religious sites and trees and crops. All the 34 affected households losing structures comprise of squatters. Of the total assets getting affected, 41.2% comprise of residential structures, 50% commercial structures and 8.8% are in mixed category (residential-cum-commercial structure).

During the survey period, interactions and consultations were conducted with affected households and communities, which confirm that the affected persons and communities are positive to the project, if they are adequately compensated by the Government for their losses and assisted in restoring their livelihood.

The section wise details of the type of losses and the number of affected households and persons are detailed in the Table 1.1 below:

Table 1.1: Type of losses incurred by affected households

 Source: Census Survey, Advantage India, July 2005.

C.        Measures to minimize impact

All necessary efforts have been made in order to minimize the subproject impacts and to reduce disruption of livelihood. n order to minimize the project impacts and to reduce disruption of livelihood, efforts have been undertaken by adopting appropriate engineering design while finalizing the Track alignment to minimize the resettlement impact on the existing structures. Public consultations and field visits helped in getting better planning and designing inputs towards minimizing negative social impacts. To reduce the social impact of the proposed development work, different re-alignments have been proposed.

D.        Resettlement Principles and Policy Framework

The resettlement principles adopted for this subproject recognize the Asian Development Bank’s (ADB) Policy of Involuntary Resettlement (1995), and ADB’s Handbook on Resettlement (1998).

The RP is based on the general findings of the resettlement survey[1], field visits, and meetings with various project-affected persons in the project area. Taking into account the various losses, a detailed Entitlement Matrix has been developed which provides for compensation and resettlement assistance to all affected persons in the subproject area. In general terms, the people affected by the Project will be entitled to the following types of compensation and assistance –

(i)                  Cash assistance for  structures(residential/commercial/ residential cum commercial) at replacement cost;

(ii)                Assistance for loss of business/wage income;

(iii)               Cash assistance for shifting;

(iv)              Additional assistance for vulnerable groups namely - Female-headed households, Scheduled Castes (SC), Scheduled Tribes (ST), those below poverty line, elderly and disabled.; and,

(v)                Temporary employment during construction

A detailed Entitlement Matrix for the subproject is provided in Table 3.1 in Chapter 3.

E.         Stakeholder Participation and Disclosure of RP

Local level stakeholders were consulted in the subproject area while conducting initial social and poverty assessment. Similarly, due consideration was also given for Stakeholder consultations and community participation at different levels during RP preparation.

The summary RP was translated and disclosed to affected persons and local communities in local language (Oriya) by the EA. Copies of summary RP will also be made available at the local panchayats, local level public offices such as revenue offices to stakeholders. The summary of the RP will be disclosed on the ADB website and the consultation will be continued throughout the project implementation period.

F.         Implementation Arrangements & Grievance Redressal

RVNL will be the Executing Agency (EA) for the Project.  The Project Implementation Unit (PIU) with assistance of an experienced NGO/agency will have the primary responsibility of the RP preparation and implementation. The PIU would ensure monitoring any changes to subproject design which may require re-evaluation of the need for and adequacy of the RP whereas the EA will ensure resettlement budgets are delivered on time to the for timely RP implementation. All compensation and other assistances[2] will be paid to all APs prior to commencement of civil works. A detailed implementation schedule for the various activities is provided in Table 8.1 and 8.2 in the main text.

A Grievance Redressal Committee (GRC) will be established at the district level with the primary objective of providing a mechanism to mediate conflict and disputes concerning compensation payments and cut down on lengthy litigation. The GRC will be constituted with the commencement of the process of land acquisition and will be headed by the District collector and will comprise of representatives of local NGOs; public representatives (viz., Member of Parliament, Member of Legislative Assembly, etc) from the respective district; representatives of women’s group, squatters and vulnerable families; line departments and affected persons especially women as well as representatives of the respective district administration. Minimum participation of women in GRC will be at least one third of the total members.

In addition, local level Resettlement Committees (LRC) will also be formed comprising of representatives of affected persons; local leader of the affected villages; NGO field worker, women. Vulnerable groups will be encouraged to participate in these committees.

The LRCs and the NGOs will meet at regular intervals as decided by the community, specifically for grievance redress purposes at a pre-decided date, time and place. The APs can be formally present in these meetings and discuss their queries and grievances. At the community level, the committee will have the power to resolve matters either by providing information or agreeing on follow-up action. It may also reject some grievances for not being legitimate. However, it will have to explain to the AP the reasons for not recording the grievance. Legitimate grievances, which the LRCs is unable to resolve, will be taken to the GRC, which will then take necessary action after reviewing the findings in a thorough investigation.  The LRCs will maintain a register of all queries and grievances, and the action taken.

G.        Budget

The total estimated cost for resettlement operation and management for the Project is Rs. 1029860 (USD 22886). The itemized budget is enumerated in Table 7.2 in the main text.

H.        Monitoring & Evaluation

The RP will have both internal and external monitoring. Internal Monitoring will be a regular activity for PMU, supported by PIU and Resettlement Officer. PIU will report on the progress of the R&R activities to RVNL HQ on a monthly basis in prescribed monitoring formats.

In addition, an independent agency/monitoring expert will be engaged by the EA in agreement with ADB to undertake biannual external monitoring of the subproject implementation.  This expert will submit its reports biannually to EA and ADB.