Bhubaneswar: Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik has directed the Transport department to finish the railway line work on Khurda-Balangir route from Balangir side on stipulated time.
Talking to media persons after a review meeting presided over by the chief minister, Transport minister Ramesh Majhi said, “As per the directive of the chief minister, the work started from Balangir side last December. The target is to complete the 16-km railway line work by 2018.”
Work on the Khurda-Balangir railway line from the Khurda side is on and the stretch up to Rajasunakhela is ready, said the minister.
Work will be completed up to Nayagarh by 2017 and the whole route will be ready by 2021, Majhi stated.
Notably, in June 2015, train services were launched on the 32-km stretch between Khurda and Begunia, part of the 289-km Khurda-Bolangir rail project. The stretch till Rajsunakhala was completed in October the same year and trains were flagged off.
The survey work for the Khurda-Bolangir Rail project was done way back in 1945. The project had a budget of Rs 1,100 crores. The project is expected to benefit five districts – Nayagarh, Khurda, Boudh, Sonepur and Bolangir.