ROURKELA: Even as final location survey and geo-technical investigation for the proposed Sardega-Pathalgaon new railway line of 128 km has been completed, the detailed project report (DPR) for the venture is yet to be prepared.
Around 68 km of the line from Sardega in Hemgir block will pass through Sundargarh district covering 56 villages before ending at Pathalgaon in Chhattisgarh.
Sources said in March, 2023, the Bilaspur division of South East Central Railway (SECR) had written to Sundargarh collector seeking supply of circle land rate and revenue maps of the 56 villages to conduct final location survey and geo-technical investigation and preparation of GADs, other drawings along with the report on cost estimate. Subsequently, a Delhi-based firm Intro-soft Solution completed the final location survey.
SECR had also conducted the final location survey for the proposed Dharamjaigarh-Pathalgaon (Chhattisgarh) and Lohardaga (Jharkhand) new line. Rail Bikash Sangharsh Samiti (RBSS) general secretary and BJP’s ST Morcha state secretary Dhruba Kalo said Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Vishnu Deo Sai had recently met Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw who informed DPRs for both the projects are in-progress.
He said the Sardega-Pathalgaon new rail line is of critical importance for the coal-belt of Sundargarh sub-division which has no rail connectivity. Once completed, the line would create the shortest route to Delhi via Pathalgaon and Ambikapur in Chhattisgarh and Renukot in Uttar Pradesh. He said in its course of 128 km, the Sardega-Pathalgaon new line would have a total of nine stations. RBSS members said despite their demand, no allocation has been made in budget, 2024 for the two proposed lines in absence of DPRs.
Sundargarh MLA Jogesh Singh said development eludes the coal-rich Sundargarh sub-division largely due to absence of a rail network. He urged the state and central governments to take up the Sardega-Pathalgaon rail line proposal on priority. The existing rail line between Sardega and Jharsuguda is primarily used by Mahanadi Coalfields Ltd (MCL) for transportation of coal.