JEYPORE: After being suspended for four days due to local protest, work on the Jeypore-Nabarangpur railway line project resumed near Akamba village in Koraput’s Jeypore block on Friday. The railway authorities started spreading soil for the proposed project on the land near Akamba which was acquired last month. The Revenue Department has already given permission to lift around 20,000 cubic metres of soil from the Dhanpur panchayat for the project.
The Upper Kolab project authorities have also granted permission to the railway authorities to use the road of the Umuri-Taraghai minor irrigation canal for transporting soil for the ongoing work. Four days back, villagers of Badakaudi, Dhanpur and Garudaguda stopped work on the railway line project opposing the excavation of soil from forest land and over various demands.
On Thursday, the administration held a meeting with the agitating villagers, revenue officials and police. The locals agreed to allow the contracting agency to excavate soil after they were assured of the development of their villages.
Sources said work on the 41.90 km broad gauge line project from Jeypore to Nabarangpur is moving at a snail’s pace due to a delay in the acquisition of land by the state government. The land acquisition process started two years back but it is yet to be completed.