KENDRAPARA: In a roadblock to the much-awaited Paradip-Haridaspur railway line project, residents of Nuagaon staged ‘rail roko’ during an experimental trial run of a goods train on the route demanding passenger train services on Friday. The goods train was the first to roll out on the soil of Kendrapara district.
The agitators led by local sarpanch Binati Das halted a coal-laden goods train, which was on way to Rourkela from Paradip, near Nuagaon railway station at 11.30 am. They demanded a written assurance from the railway officials in this regard.
“The railway authorities acquired our land to build the line for both goods and passenger trains. However, only goods trains are being run on the route due to which we decided to stage protest,” said Madan Behera of Nuagaon.
Nuagaon station manager Babuli Charan Mallick admitted that the goods train was stopped by villagers during the trial run. The protestors also hoisted banners when the train was passing through the station.
Chief Public Relation Officer of East Coast Railway Nirakar Das said, due to the protest, the testing of the new railway line has been delayed.
Sources said Railway officials and the district administration are holding discussions with the agitators to resolve out the matter. Security has been tightened at Nuagaon and nearby areas to check any untoward incident.
Recently, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik had urged the Union Railway Minister Piyush Goyal to start passenger trains on the railway line.
Construction work of the 82-km long railway line from Haridaspur to the port town of Paradip covering Jajpur, Kendrapara and Jagatsinghpur districts was completed recently. The railway line has brought Kendrapara on railway map.
The then Railway minister Nitish Kumar had laid foundation stone of the project on April 4, 1999 near Marshaghai in the district.