SRIKAKULAM: East Coast Railway deputy chief manager of operations (Bhubaneswar) SK Sahu and district collector Lakshmi Nrusimham have discussed the feasibility of 142-km new broad gauge railway line connecting Vizianagaram and Palasa via Rajam. They discussed how the line would benefit commuters of the region and favourable conditions for the railways. The line would connect Vizianagaram, Nellimarla, Garividi, Cheepurupalle, Soperu, Rajam, Kummara, Palakonda, Somagandi, Kotturu, Sitaapur, Parlakhemundi, Chapara, Maridikota, Tekkali and Palasa.
The engineering estimates were completed at the ground level. Sahu asked the collector to inform the railways about the possible generation of passenger and goods traffic. Sahu also wanted details of the export potential of agricultural commodities like paddy, wheat, sugarcane, cotton, sugar and pulses along with commercial ones like spices, iron and bauxite ores, cement, fertilisers and steel from the region.
The collector asked DRO BHS Venkata Rao to collect details concerning the new project and send them to the ECoR at the earliest.
The people of the district were seen exulting over the new proposal but simultaneously they have a tinge of pessimism in their tone since the earlier proposal to connect Rajam with Ponduru remained only on paper. But this time they seem to be a little more realistic since the new line would serve both Odisha and Andhra people.