BHUBANESWAR: The engineering team of East Coast Railway (ECoR) has achieved a major milestone by digging a 700-meter-long escape tunnel for the Khurda Road-Balangir rail link project in Boudh district.
The construction wing of ECoR made the escape tunnel from National Highway-57 to connect it with the 4,185-metre-long tunnel under construction in Adhenigarh-Charichhak section in a reserve forest under Madhapur range in Boudh. The digging work was completed on Tuesday. The escape tunnel will help in early completion of the main tunnel and give much-needed impetus to the long-pending project which was sanctioned in 1994. Of the 301 km Khurda Road-Balangir project, 152.8 km has been commissioned so far. The Indian Railways has been constructing the line from both sides, Khurda Road and Balangir, to ensure early completion of the project.
So far, 105.8 km from Khurda Road to Daspalla and 47 km from Balangir to Sonepur have been commissioned. This apart, the stretch of 28.76 km from Sonepur to Jharmunda has also been completed. The segment from Sonepur to Purunakatak, covering around 73 km, is expected to be completed within next few months.
The Khurda Road-Balangir project is being closely monitored by the Ministry of Railways. The new lines are being laid from both sides to speed up work and complete the project at the earliest.