Key rail projects languish in Odisha

Even as the Union Railway budget is all set to be presented in the parliament tomorrow, some of the key rail projects in the state are languishing for years.

While two rail links conceived about two decades back-the Khurda-Bolangir and Lanjigarh-Junagarh rail line, are yet to be completed, other projects taken up over the last decade have made meager progress.

Of the 290 km long Khurda-Bolangir line, work on only 32 km linking Khurda with Begunia has been completed. Of the 56 km long Lanjigarh-Junagarh, work on 48 km has been completed till date.

Out of eight rail line doubling projects taken up by East Coast Railway, six have posted zero to two per cent progress. These projects, undertaken between 2009 and 2012, are Sambalpur-Talcher, Delang-Puri, Burundamal-Jharsuguda, Simanchalam-Gopalpatnam, Kirandul-Jagdalpur, Bhadrak-Nirgundi.

Out of nine projects being implemented by Rail Vikash Nigam Ltd (RVNL), four have achieved only zero to 10 percent physical progress. The worst performer of them is the Angul-Sukinda rail link with only two percent physical progress despite being conceived in 1998-99. Similarly, the 82 km long Paradip-Haridaspur line, a key rail link for the state's economic infrastructure point of view, has made only 17 per cent physical progress till date.

According to sources, the work on these projects has suffered due to a variety of reasons, starting from delay in land acquisition and forest land clearance to lack of fund allocation and procedural delays.

In its pre-budget memorandum to the Odisha government has sought Rs 3,050 crore allocation in the ensuing 2013-14 budget for the development of rail network in the state.

Out of this, the state government has sought Rs 1,440 crore for construction of nine new lines, Rs 50 crore for one gauge conversion (90-km Rupsa- Bangiriposi), Rs 890 crore for doubling and third line projects.

The funds demanded for the construction of newlines in Odisha include Angul-Duburi - Sukinda (Rs 300 crore), Khurda Road- Bolangir (Rs 350 crore), Haridaspur-Paradeep (Rs 300 crore), Talcher-Bimalagarh (Rs 300 crore), Digha-Jaleswar (Rs 100 crore).

Similarly, the funds required for the doubling projects include Sambalpur-Titlagarh (Rs 200 crore), Raipur-Titlagarh (Rs 100 crore), Banspani-Daitari-Jakhapura(Rs 150 crore), Sambalpur-Talcher (Rs 100 crore) and Rs 100 crore each for laying of third line between Bhadrak-Nirgundi and Bhadrak-Balasore- Kahragpur and Rs 20 crore for third line between Khurda and Barang.

Odisha has also asked for Rs 100 crore provisions in the rail budget for development of goods sheds at 18 stations and five multimodal logistic parks at Kalinganagar, Angul, Jharsuguda, Rourkela and Choudwar. The state has also sought for introduction of 25 new trains in the ensuing budget. "We have also demanded for five Duronto express trains between Bhubaneswar-Mumbai, Bhubaneswar-Bangalore, Bhubaneswar-Pune, Puri-Jaipur and Puri - Surat in addition to 10 express trains," said Subrat Tarai, state minister for commerce and transport.