BALANGIR: The demand to include Balangir district in the proposed Biju Expressway project has gained momentum with Balangir MP Kalikesh Narayan Singhdeo and leaders of several local organisations raising their voice in this regard.
The Biju Expressway project envisages to create an economic corridor in Western Odisha with an estimated cost of `3,200 crore. The corridor will pass through four Western Odisha districts connecting Jagdalpur in Chhattisgarh with industrial town Rourkela.
The Expressway will also connect several border towns of Western and South Odisha like Chandli, Boriguma, Nabarangpur, Papadahandi, Ambapani, Dharmagarh, Sinapali, Behella, Nuapada, Paikmal, Padmapur, Sohela, Bargarh, Sambalpur, Jharsuguda, Sundargarh, and Rourkela.
Kalikesh, who is also member of Standing Committee of Petroleum and Natural Gas and Consultative Committee on Defence in the Parliament, has written to Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik demanding inclusion of Balangir in the proposed project.
In his letter, Kalikesh stated that Balangir comes under the backward areas of the State. It is unfortunate that the district has been excluded from the project. “The district has some of the lowest human development indices and needs immediate intervention of the State Government to increase its economic activities. The proposed project will be helpful in the socio-economic development of the district,” the MP stated.
Kalikesh further stated that Balangir should be included via a loop to the existing expressway plan. A loop should be undertaken along State Highway from Udayanbandh- Lathore-Khaprakhol-Patnagarh-Balangir with a spur from Patnagarh-Belpara-Kantabanji-Chandotara which will ensure that the impoverished district is included in Biju Expressway project.
The BJD had promised to launch the project during the last general elections. In the first phase of the project, 254 kms of road will be converted to four-lane and 402 kms to two-lane. In the second phase, 258 kms will be made four-lane. Balangir has been left out of the mega project.
Several local organisations including Balangir Action Committee and Citizen Committee have also made vociferous demand to include the district in the project. In a press statement, president of Balangir Action Committee Gopalji Panigrahi said it is unfortunate that the State Government is least concerned about the issues of Balangir which is evident from the exclusion of the district from the mega project. The district should be made a part of the Expressway, he stated.