Balia: The Badakhandaeta Railway Station under Biridi tehsil in Jagatsinghpur these days has the look of a haunted place. The station has been non-functional since 2006 and without any maintenance has taken the look of abandoned area.
The Badakhandaeta Railway Station was constructed in 1974. It is the oldest station on Cuttack-Paradip railway line. People of 10 panchayats of three blocks in Cuttack and Jagatsinghpur districts availed of this station to go to their respective destinations.
However, suddenly the station was closed for passengers in 2006. All the equipment and machinery from the station were shifted.
Currently the station and the staff quarters close by have a haunted look. No one is seen in sight. Doors, windows and other furniture have been stolen from the station as well as the quarters. Wild plants and weeds have grown everywhere. As there is no power, the entire area has become a haven for miscreants.
Local residents including Kailash Chandra Behera, Bijay Dalai, Ashok Mohanty and some others have in the past urged Jagatsinghpur district collector, Railway Ministry, Odisha Chief Secretary, East Coast GM and DRM, Khurda to intervene and take necessary steps for resurrection of the station. Letters have been sent to all the persons concerned, but so far there have been no results.
Local residents had staged a sit-in at Jagatsinghpur sub-collector’s office way back in January 12, 2011, demanding the station be made functional again. Following it, they had conducted a mass demonstration at the railway station April 6, 2011. However, all their pleas seem to have fallen on deaf ears.
In February 2012, hundreds of people belonging to villages that lie in close proximity to the station had staged a 33-hour-long ‘Rail roko’ programme. They squatted on the tracks disrupting traffic. The demonstration was called off after the then Jagatsinghpur sub-collector Brajabandhu Bhol assured their demands would be considered.
Accordingly, the sub-collector had informed the Khurda divisional manager Tribikram Mishra in a letter (Letter No-119/March 29, 2012). This apart, the villagers have submitted memorandum to the Railway Ministry and other authorities on several occasions but to no avail.
PNN
