Jajpur: Though the expansion work of the 180-km long Jakhapura-Jaroli railway line here is nearing completion, the remaining work of the project has been fraught with issues related to land acquisition and conversion of forest land into non-forest land. Hence, it is not clear when this project will see the light of day. Besides, several other railway projects in Odisha are getting delayed for a host of issues pertaining to conversion of forest land, survey of trees, compensation for tree felling, forest rights act certificate and stage–I forest clearance.
After completion of this project, iron ore transportation to Paradip port through goods trains will be quicker, according to sources in the Railways. In a recent tweet, the Ministry of Railway stated that about 93 percent of the ongoing expansion of the Jhakhapura-Jaroli broad gauge line has been completed.
Out of total 180-km stretch of the railway line, work of 139-km stretch has been over, it said. According to the Ministry, with the commission of the project, mineral transportation to Paradip will be easier and faster. “Particularly, transport of iron ore from the Joda mining area of Keonjhar district to the Paradip port will be faster than ever,” it said. However, there was no information available from the Railway Ministry about when the project will be completed. It was learnt that the work for the remaining stretch of the project is moving at snail’s pace as the local administration and the railway authorities have been struggling to sort out issues of land acquisition and conversion of forest land.
Notably, 148.38 hectare of private, government and forest land was identified for the project passing through Jajpur district. The railway authorities had November 19, 2021, proposed conversion of some patches of forest land online, but the proposal was turned down due to some technical issues. Again a revised proposal for the purpose was sent. The land acquisition process is failing to make headway, ultimately delaying the work of the remaining stretch. Various quarters have observed that all that the Railways is doing is publicity stunt on the project while seven percent of the project work is still stuck in land acquisition.