BHUBANESWAR: As many as 21 railway stations in the state are among 508 taken up for redevelopment under the Amrit Bharat Station (ABS) scheme in the first phase.Prime Minister Narendra Modi will lay foundation stone of the station modernisation work through video conferencing from New Delhi on Sunday.
The stations in the state selected for infrastructural development include Sakhigopal, Mancheswar, Dhenkanal, Chhatrapur, Angul, Meramundali, Baluagaon, Lingaraj Temple Road, Talcher Road, Khurda Road, Kantabanji, Bargarh Road, Hirakud, Rairakhol, Barpali, Muniguda, Balangir, Harishankar Road, Bhawanipatna, Khariar Road and Damanjodi under East Coast Railway (ECoR) and Barbil, Rajgangpur, Baripada and Jaleswar under South Eastern Railway (SER).
Apart from these stations, Palasa, Vizianagaram and Duvvada stations in Andhra Pradesh and Mahasamund station in Chhattisgarh that come under ECoR zone have been included in the first phase. As per railway sources, Rs 547.7 crore has been sanctioned for development of the 25 stations under ECoR and SER zones in the three states. General manager of ECoR Manoj Sharma said a total of 1,309 stations of Indian Railways will be redeveloped under ABS scheme in phases.
“Altogether 57 stations in Odisha have been selected under the scheme. The redevelopment will be done in such a way that the stations remain integrated with surrounding areas. Besides, work for different infrastructural projects is going on a war footing in the state and some of them have been completed recently,” he said. Facilities planned under ABS scheme include smooth access to railway stations by removing unwanted structures, improvement in lighting, provisioning of better circulating area, upgradation of parking space, amenities for persons with disabilities, sustainable and environment friendly solutions, roof plaza and creation of city centres at the stations.