CM demands Railway unification in Odisha
BHUBANESWAR: Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Saturday demanded that Railways in Odisha should be brought under one administrative zone and till such time, the South Coast Railways (SCoR) at Visakhapatnam announced by the Centre without consultation with the State should not be operationalised.
“As the Centre has created the SCoR considering the geographical area of the State, similar demand of Odisha may be considered likewise,” the Chief Minister said in a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Referring to the decision of the Centre to set up SCoR by carving out part of the East Coast Railways (ECoR) Waltair Division which has come as a rude shock to the people of Odisha, the Chief Minister said he has been writing to successive railway ministers regarding the demand for re-organisation of Railways in the State with three new divisions. At present, about 70 per cent of Odisha is under the jurisdiction of ECoR with its headquarters at Bhubaneswar.
The Chief Minister urged the Prime Minister to intervene to declare two new railway divisions at Rourkela and Jajpur to unify Railways in Odisha under one administrative zonal headquarters of ECoR at Bhubaneswar.
Stating that an efficient and strong railway network with a single administrative structure within the State is necessary to maintain the impetus of growth, the Chief Minister said now transport of major minerals is handled by zonal Railways.
“My Government has also come forward to invest heavily to bridge the gap in investment in Railway infrastructure like Haridaspur-Paradip and Angul-Sukinda new lines,” he said and added, “The State has provided land free of cost for Khurda Road-Balangir, Jeypore-Malkangiri and Jeypore-Nabarangpur projects.”
The commitment of the State Government to railway projects today stands in excess of `5000 crore, signifying its focus and priority to this sector. “It is in this backdrop that Odisha has been asking for re-organisation of Railways in Odisha and unifying the Railways in the State under one administrative zone - ECoR, Bhubaneswar,” he said.