Boudh: A railway tunnel, the second longest in the state, will come up in this district as part of the Khurda-Bolangir rail route project, a report said.
Work on the rail route has gathered pace after the district administration provided necessary land for construction of the rail route.
Earlier, a 1960-metre long railway tunnel had been constructed between Rayagada and Koraput districts. The soil laying work for the rail route from Manmunda to Boudh is going on at a brisk pace.
The railway tunnel which will be a 1-km long will be constructed from Purunakatak to Adenigarh cutting through the hill.
Earlier, the state government has signed an agreement with the railway department to provide land free of cost for the rail route and to bear 50 per cent of the total expenses.
The state government will also bear 50 per cent of the expenses for construction of the railway tunnel in Boudh district.
This has been informed in writing to the railway department. There was no proposal for construction of a railway tunnel on the rail route.
Later, the state government and authorities of the East Coast Railways decided to construct a railway tunnel so as not to harm the local environment.
It was earlier decided to construct the rail route on plain land between Purunakatak and Adenigarh. However, the decision was changed after it was found that thousands of trees need to be chopped off to make way for the rail route.
Moreover, obtaining necessary environmental clearance to cut down the trees will pose a problem. This prompted the state government and the railway department to reverse their decision.
The forest department, however, is yet to give its clearance for the stretch of the rail route that has to pass through Harbhanga block.
The state government, however, has proposed construction of a two-lane-based railway tunnel in view of the express way which will come up in future.
Moreover, obtaining environmental clearance will pose a problem in future for which the state government has sought advance construction of a two-lane-based railway tunnel.
A high-level committee of the railway department recently visited Harbhanga block, took stock of the construction of the railway tunnel and met Pradip Kumar Amat, Boudh MLA.
PNN