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Bhubaneswar: The Railways has blamed Odisha government for the delay in the construction work of the 289 km Khurda Road-Bolangir railway line.
The Railway Board claimed that land acquisition is the prime cause behind the over cost and time overrun as Odisha government has failed to acquire necessary land for the mega project.
The East Coast Railway (ECoR) has kept necessary infrastructure ready for the line including manpower and materials. The only constraint before the railways is the non-availability of the land from the State government, including few stretches of forest land, railway officials stated.
“There have been some modifications in the guidelines issued by the centre. So far only 80 kms of railway line out of 289 kms has been completed in the past 27 years. The railway officials are intentionally creating hurdles as we had asked them to start work where there are no hurdles or land has already been acquired,” said BJD MLA, Arun Sahu.
At present, the railway line from Khurda Road up to Nayagarh town (66 km) is ready up to 75 km and the work can be completed within 3 years if the land required for the project is made available to the railways.
Though the State government had issued preliminary notification for land acquisition in August for 93 km to 143 km in Nayagarh, final land estimate has not yet been sanctioned.
Also Read: Centre allocates Rs 700 cr for Khurda-Bolangir rail project
In Boudh district (from 143 km to 239 km), of 102 villages preliminary notification by state government was issued for only 33 villages in September last.
Similarly, in Sonepur district (from 239 km to 266 km), of total 30 villages where land has to be acquired, preliminary notice has been issued by the state government for only 13 villages in October last.
The total requirement of forest land in Nayagarh district is 147 acre. The forest land required in Boudh and Sonepur districts is 1400 acre. All this forest land still remains under various stages of processing.
The ECoR officials claimed that land acquisition remains a concern as is preliminary notification is issued after assessing and conducting a social impact study, public hearing at gram sabha level and other aspects by an expert committee.
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