Nabarangpur: The state government delaying the land acquisition for Jeypore-Nabarangpur railway line has put the project on the back-burner, District Bar Association secretary Rama Prasad Patra told mediapersons here, Tuesday.
Patra said he had received a letter from deputy secretary of East Coast Railway (ECoR) UK Mishra saying that the project sanctioned in FY 2016- 2017 has been delayed as the state government is yet to acquire the land for the purpose.
The work will start once the state government provides land, Mishra said in the letter. It has been over six years since the Centre and state government signed an agreement but there is hardly any progress on the rail project.
The project work will move ahead if the Centre and the state government display promptitude, Patra said. He said even though the Railways had proposed for land acquisition in 2018, the same has been delayed.
He urged the district administration and state government to look into the bottlenecks in land acquisition and do the needful. Meanwhile, survey for 41.90 km of rail route has been completed, the ECoR deputy secretary has mentioned in his letter.
Reports said 21 hectare government and 89 hectare private land in Nabarangpur district, and 81 hectare government, 248 hectare private and 12 hectare forest land in Koraput district will be acquired for the railway project.
The Centre and the state government had signed an agreement after the Railway Board gave its approval for the project to be built at a plan outlay of Rs 748 crore in 2017.
As per the agreement, the state government is liable to provide land for the rail route while the cost of the project will be shared by the Centre and state government.
Railway stations will be built at Podalguda in Nabarangpur district and Jayantigiri, Borigumma and Kaliaguda in Koraput district.
PNN
