ROURKELA: Running several years behind schedule, the Talcher-Bimlagarh new rail line project continues to drag on due to delay in acquisition of private land and alienation of government land in patches in Angul, Deogarh and Sundargarh districts.
Reliable sources said transfer of required land for the project has progressed significantly over the past couple of years. However, acquisition of land in patches are causing bottlenecks in completion of the project.
Seeking to know the status of the project, the Sachetan Nagarik Manch had filed a petition in the Jana Sunani portal of the Odisha government. In reply, the chief administrative officer of the construction organisation of East Coast Railway (ECoR) said one of the reasons behind the delay was the pending cases in the Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement court, Sambalpur.
The ECoR said in Sundargarh, 34.66 acre private and 56.85 acre government land are yet to be acquired and alienated. In Deogarh, 115.70 acre private and 30.09 acre government land remain to be acquired and alienated. Similarly in Angul, 10.31 acre private and 21.84 acre government land are yet to be acquired and alienated.
Sachetan Nagarik Manch president Bimal Bisi said the delay in acquisition of private land and alienation of government land is frustrating and beyond understanding. It speaks volumes about the lack of seriousness of the revenue officials in the three districts.
Ranjit Swain of the Odisha Rail Users’ multi-modal connectivity forum said due to land hurdles in patches, the ECoR authorities are not able to take up construction activities in an integrated manner. “Disputing ownership of land, local villagers are frequently stopping work. There is an urgent need for transfer of entire private and government land to the ECoR to avoid further delay,” he added.
ECoR sources said of the total project length of 149.780 km, the 34.08 km stretch from Talcher to Parabil has been completed. Work on 14.2 km in Parabil-Khamar section is in advanced stage of completion. Besides, work on the 28.77 km stretch between Khamar and Pallahara in Angul and another 32.25 km between Bimlagarh and Mohuldiha in Sundargarh is underway. Tender for the remaining length of 39.7 km from Pallahara to Mohuldiha is being prepared.