ROURKELA: Third railway track project worth `969 crore and extension of the second washing line at Rourkela continue to linger as political parties try to win the sympathy of slum dwellers facing eviction.
Sources said the South Eastern Railway (SER) is in the process of demarcation of area and serving eviction notices to slum dwellers along the railway tracks from Malgodam to Panposh bridge. The SER wants removal of encroachment on 85 feet on the northern side to existing tracks to lay the third track between Rourkela and Jharsuguda.
In March, Minister of State for Railway Manoj Sinha had laid the foundation for the third track on the busy Howrah-Mumbai route. As the SER is gearing up to free its land from encroachment, protests have been started with politicians flocking the areas.
Rourkela District Congress Committee (RDCC) president Biren Senapati and other RDCC members recently visited various small slums in Malgodam area and expressed solidarity with those facing eviction.
Senapati said about 1,000 families at Malgodam, Kumbharpara, Durgapur, FCI Basti, Gangadharpali and Panposh would be affected and demanded their rehabilitation before eviction. He said they support development but not without prior rehabilitation of the affected families and threatened to protest eviction drive.
Before Senapati, Rourkela BJP MLA and former Union minister Dilip Ray also expressed solidarity with the affected persons.
Rourkela unit BJP spokesman Ramesh Bal claimed that on the request of Ray and Union Tribal Affairs Minister Jual Oram, the SER has agreed to take up eviction drive on 65 feet. He said the BJP supports the project, yet rehabilitation of the poor slum people remains a humanitarian issue and the MLA assured to impress upon the Sundargarh district administration to rehabilitate them at Balughat.
General secretary of Rail Users’ Association AC Baral said it is unfortunate that key railway projects are getting affected due to encroachment. The expansion of the second washing line is delayed due to protest by encroachers. Similarly, the vote bank politics again threatens to delay the third track project, he added.
Chakradharpur-based Divisional spokesperson of SER Satyam Prakash said the Railway is getting all support from the administration and the third line work would kick off shortly. Two road over bridge (ROB) projects and expansion of the first washing line at Rourkela are in progress while work on another ROB would start soon, he added.