Sonepur: The Subarnapur District Working Committee has demanded to speed up the Khurda-Bolangir railway line construction work.
A memorandum to this effect was submitted to the General Manager, East Coast Railway, through the District Collector Thursday. The demand includes quick tendering of construction work for the railway line from Bhainsapali-Bichhupali towards Sonepur. Otherwise, the committee has warned of staging a hunger strike in front of the Rail Sadan at Chandrasekharpur, Bhubaneswar, on behalf of the public, from March 15.
The 289km-long railway line is considered extremely important as it connects eastern and western Odisha. The first survey for this rail corridor was conducted in 1945 and since then after the Independence, different governments at the Centre have neglected it.
Now, substantial visible provisions are being made in the Union Budget for this. The state government has also provided the required land free of cost. But, since the construction work is getting delayed indefinitely, it has raised doubts about timely completion of the project.
After persistent public demand, the construction work has started from Bolangir side and reached up to Bichhupali. Prime Minister Narendra Modi had inaugurated the movement of trains on this line at Bolangir January 15. The total length of the railway line in Subarnapur district is about 29km.
The district administration had already handed over to the railways 104 acres of government land and 169 acres of private land within 10 km from the side of Bolangir. Moreover, out of a total of 30 villages, the land owners of about 12 villages have already been paid their compensation. In such a situation, the unnecessary delay in construction work has led to resentment among the people of this region against the railway authorities.
The working committee coordinator Govind Moharana, and others like Purushottam Panigrahi, Baladev Prasad Bedabak, Jitendra Pattanayak, Madhab Kumbhar, Chakrayudh Nayak, Nityananda Mallick, Gourishankar Mohapatra, Sudhir Panda and Seshadev Meher handed over the memorandum to the Additional District Magistrate in the absence of the Collector.
PNN
