MALKANGIRI: Land acquisition continues to be a stumbling block in the timely completion of 130 km Malkangiri-Jeypore railway project which was sanctioned in 2016 at an estimated cost of Rs 2,343.64 crore.
Though the survey for the entire stretch of 130 km track has already been completed by four different agencies from Kolkata, Secunderabad and Nagpur, the land acquisition process is yet to begin.
A spokesperson of East Coast Railway (ECoR) said requisition has been submitted for the first 30 km of the 130 km track spread over 235.52 hectares of Government and private land.
The Social Impact Assessment (SIA) study, as mandated by Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013, is in progress, he said.
A total of 1,066-hectare land is required for laying the 130 km broad gauge track for which work would begin in October 2022.
The project would be completed in four phases within six years. However, the target is subject to handing over of encumbrance free land by the State Government at the earliest as agreed upon in the MoU, the ECoR spokesman said.
Malkangiri-Jeypore railway line would pass through four tunnels and 11 stations. The State Government is yet to pay its share of 25 per cent of the total cost towards both land and construction. It needs to pay Rs 60.68 crore for land and Rs 525.23 crore towards the construction cost as per the MoU.
Lack of adequate manpower at the land acquisition office at Jeypore, which is looking after both Malkangiri-Jeypore and Jeypore-Nabarangpur sections, is the reason behind the inordinate delay in acquisition of land, sources said.
BJP leader and former Nabarangpur MP Balabhadra Majhi said the land acquisition officer in Jeypore does not have sufficient manpower.
One typist and one chairman are posted at the office where no revenue inspectors have been posted yet.
Requisition for land acquisition for the first 30 km of the stretch from Jeypore to Boipariguda was submitted to the State Government 18 months back.
Had the State Government been serious about the project, the land acquisition could have been completed in just one year, Majhi said.