MALKANGIRI/BHUBANESWAR: Union Minister for Railways, Communications and IT Ashwini Vaishnaw urged the State government to complete land acquisition at the earliest so that railway projects can be expedited. He was on a visit to Malkangiri and Koraput districts to take stock of various central government-sponsored development schemes on Friday.
Vaishnaw reviewed four railway projects in Koraput and Malkangiri districts soon after his arrival at Koraput Railway Station by a special train from Visakhapatnam. He also inspected the Kottavalasa-Kirandul line, the country’s highest broad-gauge freight line.
“Final alignment of railway lines depends on the availability of land. The Ministry has urged the government to hand over land on priority so that timely completion of projects can be ensured,” Vaishnaw told mediapersons.
He took stock of the proposed Jeypore-Malkangiri, Nabarangpur-Jeypore, Nabarangpur-Junagarh and Malkangiri-Bhadrachalam railway projects, which were long-standing demands of the people in the region. He discussed about Malkangiri-Bhadrachalam project with railway officials and public representatives.
The 173.416 km project sanctioned in September last year with an estimated cost of Rs 2,800 crore will have 213 bridges, including 48 major and 165 minor bridges. The proposed project will have stoppages at Malkangiri, Badali, Kowasiguda, Rajanguda, Maharajpalli and Lunimanguda in Odisha and Kannapuram, Kutugutta, Pallu, Nandigama, Bhadrachalam and Pandurangapuram in Telangana.
The Ministry of Railways has sanctioned Rs 3.07 crore in January for final location survey. After studying various aspects of the project, the alignment was finalised and survey is expected to be over by June.
Vaishnaw also inaugurated newly constructed Anla sub-post office and head post office buildings at Malkangiri and three new post office buildings at Manamunda in Boudh district, Salapada in Keonhar district and Gopalpur in Balasore district.
Highlighting the steps taken to enhance connectivity in the region, he said over 500 mobile towers have been sanctioned for Koraput and over 300 towers for Malkangiri. The installation of towers is being monitored regularly, he added. The Minister flagged off Visakhapatnam-Koraput-Visakhapatnam daily passenger special train at Koraput Station. The train will leave Visakhapatnam at 6.30 am from April 23 and Koraput at 8.10 am from April 24. He was accompanied by Malkangiri MLA Aditya Madhi and officials of the district administration.