
ROURKELA: The recent visit of South Eastern Railway (SER) general manager Anil Mishra and his counterpart in East Coast Railway (ECoR) Pameshwar Funkwal to Bonai sub-division has rekindled hope for creation of a steel corridor through the mining belt of Sundargarh.
The Bonai tour of the two GMs on Tuesday came ahead of the proposed visit of Union Minister for Railways Ashwini Vaishnaw to Sundargarh in January-end to officially kick-start work of the Talcher-Bimlagarh new rail line from Bimlagarh side. The minister is expected to announce new rail lines for the region.
During an election meeting in May last year, Vaishnaw had reportedly assured of setting up Barbil-Bimlagarh-Rourkela steel corridor to connect the mining belts of Keonjhar and Sundargarh.
Sources said there has been increased thrust for setting up of direct rail connectivity in the mining belts of Sundargarh and Keonjhar and adjacent West Singhbhum district of Jharkhand. They said Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi has been repeatedly insisting on setting up country’s largest steel plant in Keonjhar. For that to happen, it is imperative to connect the mining areas of Barbil in Keonjhar, Koida in Sundargarh besides Kiriburu and Meghahatuburu in West Singhbhum.
It is learnt that the existing Rourkela-Barsuan rail line of SER is chiefly used for transportation of iron ore and other minerals from Koida mining circle. The existing Rourkela-Barsuan line from Bimlagarh extends to Karampada, Megatburu and Kiriburu. But there is no further rail connectivity to the operational lines in Barbil and Balani mines in Keonjhar which are connected via rail line to Gua mines of Jharkhand.
According to the Pink Book 2024-25 of the SER, a proposal was sanctioned for laying of 24.2 km track from Karampada to Gua which is a missing link for the operational lines to Barbil and Bolani.
Senior BJP leader Ramesh Agarwal said a new survey has also been carried out which alternatively proposes a new rail line of 17.3 km from Kiriburu to Barbil. If finalised, this line would serve the same purpose for the proposed Barbil-Bimlagarh-Rourkela steel corridor.
He said with the new line, Bimlagarh station can be connected with Haldia port using the existing lines via Barbil and Tatanagar. The station would also be connected to Dhamra, Paradeep and Gopalpur ports using the existing lines via Babil, Dongaposhi and Banspani.
In October 2024, Union Tribal Affairs Minister and Sundargarh MP Jual Oram had reiterated the demand for a new railway division at Rourkela and also insisted for setting up the Barbil-Bimlagarh-Rourkela steel corridor to connect the mining regions of Sundargarh and Keonjhar.