Jajpur: The construction work of an ambitious railway line four-laning project in Jajpur district has been lingering, thanks to the delay in acquisition of a total of 43.29 hectares of land by the state government.
An earlier proposal was sanctioned by the Central government to develop the existing Bilaspur-Jharsuguda railway line to four lanes along with construction of a nine-km long IB flyover.
A source said that the 43.29 hectares include lands of 32.72 hectare owned by private parties and 10.57 hectare owned by the govt.
The project includes shifting of 132 KV transmission lines from the identified site regarging which instruction has accordingly been given to Odisha Power Transmission Corporation Limited (OPTCL).
Deputy Secretary of state Commerce and Transport department Kalpataru Samantray has recently written a letter to Jharsuguda Collector Saroj Kumar Samal in this regard February 10, 2022. The deputy secretary ordered Samal in his letter to sort out various issues pertaining to the project as soon as possible.
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Samantray’s official order was issued close on the heels of an earlier communique received by Odisha Chief Secretary Suresh Chandra Mahapatra from the general manager of South East Central Railway (SECR) Alok Kumar.
It is worth mentioning, eight such projects in Odisha have faltered so far, with a very little progress made. A fund of Rs 2,202 crore was sanctioned for the Bilaspur-Jharsuguda railway line four-laning project in the FY 2018-19.
About 3.1 hectare of private lands is required for the railway line alone. However, 29.62 hectare of private lands and 10.57 hectare of government lands are required for the flyover.
The Central government has decided that the state would carry out land acquisition drive for the said project.
PNN