BHUBANESWAR: Accusing the Centre of neglecting Odisha in the railway sector over the years, the ruling BJD on Friday maintained that implementation of ongoing projects has slowed down because of inadequate funding.
Stating that six districts - Kandhamal, Boudh, Mayurbhanj, Kendrapara, Deogarh and Malkangiri - are without railway line even after 75 years of Independence, BJD spokesperson Lenin Mohanty told mediapersons that though the Railways collects at least Rs 20,000 crore revenue from the State per year, even a fraction of it is not provided for development of rail infrastructure in Odisha.
He asked why the railway density in Odisha is only 15 km per 1000 sq km compared to 42 in West Bengal and 35 in Bihar. Mohanty also criticised the Centre for the slow progress of Khurda-Balangir and Talcher-Bimlagarh railway line projects. While only 90 km out of 290 km of Khurda-Balangir line has been completed, work on only 20 km of 155 km of Talcher-Bimlagarh is over, he said.