MALKANGIRI: Five years after it was proposed, the ambitious Jeypore-Malkangiri railway project is awaiting land acquisition.
The 130-km rail line was proposed in 2016-17 as part of an agreement between the State government and the Railways.
As part of the MoU, the project was estimated at Rs 2,343 crore with funding shared by the Railways and Odisha government on 75:25 ratio.
Of the 130 km, 82.88 km passes through Malkangiri and 43.12 km in Koraput. Sources said the budgetary allocations of Rs 28 crore and Rs 33 crore in the year 2020-21 and 2021-22 had been made by the Railway Ministry and survey work for the stretch has been completed. But the project is not moving as the government has not yet handed over an inch of land to Railways.
In October 2018, the East Coast Railway (ECoR) had reportedly submitted requisition for 463 acres of private land and 113 acres of government land to the State government. Later in December 2020, it had submitted revised requisition for 356 acres of private land and 743 acres of government land covering a total of 110 km in both Malkangiri and Koraput districts. But there has been no headway in land settlement so far.
“No land has been handed over to us even though we have submitted the requisition for the entire stretch of 130 km,” said a senior officer of East Coast Railway to TNIE. The officer said, Railways have to only submit the requisition for 10 km long stretch diversion which has been necessitated due to the proposed airstrip in Malkangiri. Tender can’t be floated and no work can start till 70 per cent of the land is handed over by the State Government as per the new rule of the Railway Ministry, he said.
On the other, Malkangiri tehsildar Gunanidhi Nayak said the detailed revised proposal mentioning details of extent of forest, private and government lands are yet to be submitted by the Railways. Land acquisition will be undertaken in Mathili, Khairput and Malkangiri tehsil areas, he said.