BERHAMPUR: In a first, the final location survey for Sambalpur-Gopalpur port new railway line project will be conducted soon using drones and helicopters.The survey is scheduled to be completed by the end of this month and funds are expected to be released in next year’s budget.
The preliminary engineering-cum-traffic survey for the project, approved by the Railway Board last year, will be carried out by Hyderabad-based Aarvee Associates Survey Consultancy. Odisha Rail Infrastructure Development Limited (ORIDL), a joint venture of the state government and Ministry of Railways, had floated the tender seeking potential bidders to conduct the survey and submit a detailed project report within eight months. The Railway Ministry had sanctioned `10 lakh for the survey.
Sibaprasad Samantaray, the special officer appointed for the task, said after the detailed project report is submitted, the Central government would release `2,957 crore for the project subject to approval by NITI Aayog. “The survey will be completed by the end of this month and funds are expected to be released in next year’s budget,” said Samantaray replying to a query by RTI activist B Sankar Patra.
As per preliminary calculations, the proposed 240 km railway line project that will connect four parliamentary constituencies of Berhampur, Aska, Kandhamal and Sambalpur, is projected to be completed in three years. The railway line will have five five tunnels, 38 major bridges, 184 minor bridges and 18 railway stations.
The Centre had permitted East Coast Railway (ECoR) to conduct the baseline survey for laying the railway line in 2010-11. Though ECoR had submitted a 212-page survey report to the Ministry of Railways, the project is yet to take off.
The inordinate delay had triggered widespread public resentment across south and western Odisha. Lawyers from Ganjam, Kandhamal, Boudh and Sambalpur districts had recently submitted memoranda to the Prime Minister and the Railway Minister on the issue.