Indian Railways‘ much-awaited Khurda Road – Balangir Rail Line project has finally received the forest clearance certificate. The move comes after the intervention of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Minister of Environment, Forest and Climate Change Bhupender Yadav. Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw has expressed gratitude to the Prime Minister and the Union Minister.
In a tweet, Vaishnaw said, “Thanks to PM @narendramodi Ji and @byadavbjp Ji for giving forest permission for the remaining 68 Km section on Khurda Road – Bolangir new line.” The Railway Minister further added that the tenders are being issued and will be finalized soon.
This new line project will build another rail link between western and coastal Odisha, connecting six districts in its route – Balangir, Sonepur, Phulbani, Boudh, Nayagarh, and Khurda.
The Khurda Road – Balangir Rail Line project was sanctioned in FY 1994-95. However, the project got delayed due to many reasons such as Court Cases, Forest clearance, etc. The forest clearance and working permission were pending for 1469 Acs of forest land in between Dasapalla and Purunakatak (Km 112 – Km 180).
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Since 2014-15, the rail line project has been speeded up. Of the 301 km, only a 115 km stretch of the rail line has been commissioned – Khurda Road to Nuagaon (90 km) and Bolangir to Jharatarabha (25 km). The East Coast Railway has targeted for commissioning Nuagaon to Daspalla from Khurda Road end and Jharatarabha to Khambeswarpali from Bolangir end in the current fiscal.
Nuagaon – Dasapalla section
The 15.5 km long stretch between Nuagaon and Dasapalla has been targeted to be completed by March 2023. The stretch has 57 minor and 3 major bridges along with 15 RUBs (Road Under Bridges), and 4 ROBs (Road Over Bridges).
Jhartarbha-Khambeswarpalli-Sonepur section
The 21.70 km long stretch is set to be completed by March 2023. Currently, the work is in progress between Buguda and Purunakatak. In a statement, the zonal railway said, “Overall target for the project is December 2025 subject to availability of 97.59 acres of Private land, 262.75 acres of Govt. land and Stage-I forest clearance from Km 112-180.”
The Khurda Road – Balangir Rail Line project is one of the focus projects of Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw as this is also one of the focus projects of PM Modi.