BHUBANESWAR: Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Thursday demanded immediate restoration of all coaching trains on Rayagada-Singapur Road line in Sambalpur division of East Coast Railway (ECoR) to address the transportation needs of distressed people.
In a letter to Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu, the Chief Minister said the railway bridge washed away in the recent flash floods on July 16 between Rayagada and Singapur road stations connects large hinterland of Odisha, covering Koraput, Rayagada, Kalahandi and Balangir districts.
With a single railway line working, ECoR is not likely to run more than 50 per cent of the coaching trains that are supposed to ply over these areas, the Chief Minister said and added that five pairs of coaching trains have been cancelled and eight other pairs are being diverted via Raipur, Nagpur and Bhopal route bypassing most of Odisha.
“It is learnt that the Railways have planned to resume full coaching services only after construction of a new bridge, which is likely to take upto eight months,” he said and added, “As this section is also used to pass freight trains, there is a compromise on coaching train operations against the need to run all goods trains.”
The Chief Minister said, the timeline envisaged by the Railways for full restoration of all coaching trains is creating largescale discontentment among the rail users of these affected areas. People of the affected districts are already distressed with floods and struggling with their livelihood issues connected with rebuilding of houses and restoring economic activities, he said.
“As you are aware, these are large districts with huge tribal population and are also affected by the menace of Left Wing Extremism,” Naveen said and added, “Considering the specific concerns of these areas, it is essentially required that full coaching services of the Railways are restored at the earliest.”
“I would request you to take necessary steps to address the transportation needs of the distressed people by ensuring immediate resumption of all coaching trains over this affected section and also get the second bridge commissioned in this section within the least possible time as a long term solution,” he said.