BHUBANESWAR: Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Friday opposed the move to set up a new railway zone with headquarters in Andhra Pradesh by taking out the existing Waltair Railway Division (Visakhapatnam) from the jurisdiction of East Coast Railway (ECoR). He demanded creation of three more divisions to unify Odisha under one zone.
Stating that the expansion of ECoR has become a necessity in the light of recent industrial projects coming up in Odisha to improve coordination and facilitate bulk consumers, the Chief Minister said in a letter to Railway Minister Piyush Goyal that the three new divisions should be created at Rourkela, Jajpur/Jajpur-Keonjhar Road and Rayagada. “The request has been made a number of times in past and the latest in my budget proposal for 2018-19,” he stated.
Naveen said the new division at Rourkela under ECR should be established with jurisdiction covering Jharsuguda-Barsuan-Kiriburu (SER), Rourkela-Nuagaon (SER) and Jharsuguda-Himgiri (SECR) sections. He said the jurisdiction of ECoR should be extended to include Banspani-Padapahar, Rupsa-Bangiriposi and Bhadrak-Laxmannath road sections and a new division should be set up with headquarters at Jajpur/Jajpur-Keonjhar Road.
Similarly, a new railway division should be established at Rayagada under the jurisdiction of ECoR comprising the Nuapada-Gunupur railway line with proposed extension to Therubali/Rayagada, Rayagada-Titlagarh-Raipur, Koraput-Rayagada, Koraput-Jeypore-Jagdalpur-Kirandul, Lanjigarh Road-Junagarh and the proposed railway lines in Malkangiri, Koraput and Nabarangpur districts, he said.
Stating that the proposed reorganisation will help Railways in better delivery of services in the State, the Chief Minister said a singular entity in Odisha will create a lot of synergy and reduce barriers in coordination as well as mobility. Naveen said the committee constituted by the Ministry of Railways of senior officers in 2013-14 to look into the possibility of reorganisation of railways for Andhra Pradesh had rejected the proposal after consulting all stake holders and considering all options by stating that creation of artificial barriers was impending the growth of Railways.