Bhawanipatna: The Junagarh-Ambaguda railway project in Kalahandi is hanging fire for 58 years due to apathy of the central government. Besides, lack of political will is allegedly responsible for non-execution of the project, a report said.
Reports said, various outfits and intelligentsia have accused both the state and the central government of pushing the railway project into cold store.
It was in 1960 when the Japan government had wanted to lay this railway project so as to facilitate mineral transportation to Visakhapatnam port. This 179-km long railway project was planned from Kirandul in Chhattisgarh to Lanjigarh Road.
A survey for the railway project was conducted in Lanjigarh, Ambaguda, Papadahandi, Koksara, Junagarh, Bhawanipatna, Dantewada and Kirandul.
At that time, the Congress government was at the centre while Kalahandi Lok Sabha seat was then represented by MP of Ganatantra Parishad. The then Union government did not lay stress on the railway project at that time.
The Japan government revised its plan and wanted to lay the railway project from Ambaguda to Jotabalasa via Jagdalpur, Koraput and Arko. It conducted a fresh survey and built the new railway project.
But the old plan was pushed into cold store. The Japan government had then inked an agreement with the central government to export iron ores from Kirandul iron mine via Vishakhapatnam port for 40 years.
In 1990, the then Union Railway Minister Bhakta Charan Das had given a go ahead to a railway project from Junagarh to Lanjigarh.
Three years later (1993), it was due to the efforts of MP Subash Chandra Nayak that then Prime Minister PV Narasimha Rao and then Minister of State for Railway Kanhu Charan Lenka had laid the foundation of the railway project which was completed in March 2014.
Later, a survey for a new railway line from Junagarh to Ambaguda was approved by then Union Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee in 2008. A private agency based in Bhubaneswar was awarded the survey work.
After the survey, Railway Construction Organisation had submitted a detailed project report at the Railway Board in 2013. Junagarh is 179 km from Ambaguda.
The railway project entails construction of 17 railway stations at Junagarh Road, Mahichala, Moter, Koksara, Gotomunda, Nuapada, Sahajkhol, Biriman, Choripadar, Dhansuli, Papadahandi, Nabarangpur, Kamjhor, Mandaguda, Kotpad Town, Chiliari Dangar and Ambaguda.
About 39 major bridges, 111 small bridges, seven road over bridges, 27 road underpasses and four manned level crossings are part of the railway project. In 2013, the project was estimated at Rs1,586 crore.
The railway project will pass through Kalahandi, Nabarangpur, Koraput and Jagdalpur districts. In 2016-17, the then Union Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu had approved the project and sent the proposal to the NITI Aayog.
As the commerce and transport department of the state government had proposed to be a joint partner for the Junagarh Ambaguda Rail Limited, Nabarangpur MP Balabhadra Majhi has drawn the attention of both the governments for the execution of the project.
PNN