What was the main reason of failure of Coast Canal on the Orissa coast build by Britishers?

Failure to compete with railways

Along with the development of roads and railways, the colonial dispensation also took measures for developing the inland trade and sea lanes. However, these measures were far from satisfactory. The inland waterways, at times, also proved uneconomical as in the case of the Coast Canal on the Orissa coast. Though the canal was built at a huge cost to the government exchequer, yet, it failed to compete with the railways, which soon traversed the region running parallel to the canal, and had to be ultimately abandoned.