Vikash Sharma

Bhubaneswar: The decades-long dream of the people of Kendrapara district has finally materialised following the completion of the much-awaited Haridaspur-Paradip railway project. At present, the final inspection is going on and the railway line will be commissioned in the next 10 to 15 days.

“It is a major project for the costal Odisha as it will connect three districts- Jajpur, Kendrapara and Jagatsinghpur. Personally, it is very satisfying as I have worked hard for the project during my term as MP and after that as well,” said BJP National Vice-president and former Kendrapara MP, Baijayant Panda in a video message shared on social media.

First cargo trains are likely to roll down the line and subsequently passenger train services will be launched, Panda said.

According to sources, as many as 31 bridges and 174 minor bridges and nine stations have been constructed on the 82 –km-long project which has been constructed at an estimated cost of over Rs 2,000 crore.

Though the project was approved in 1996, it had not made any headway for 13 years and when I was elected from Kendrapara, the project was expedited after strenuous efforts, Panda said.

"I used to visit the site, review the project with senior officials at Delhi and an update was shared on social media every three months. After lot of effort, the land acquisition hurdle was cleared and the project work gained momentum in 2013.
Over 95 percent of the work for the project was over when I completed my term,” Panda added.

The people in Kendrapara also acknowledged the contribution of their former MP Baijayant Panda in ensuring completion of the project which will act as lifeline and create new job opportunities as well.

(Edited By Bikram Keshari Jena)

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