Baripada: The dream of Chakulia-Budhamara railway line is going to be realized as the railway authorities of South Eastern Railway have started their groundwork for the first phase of its construction, a report said.
Once laid, this project will reduce the distance between Puri and Delhi by around 150 km. The railway line will provide an interchange option in addition to the existing Kharagpur-Tatanagar route. It will also reduce the distance for Odia passengers going to Mumbai.
The work about the project was revealed from the letter (654) issued by deputy chief engineer of the SER.
The first phase of the work entails construction of the railway line of 50-km and 200 metres. About 70 per cent of the land required for the project is in Jharkhand while 30 percent is in Mayurbhanj district.
Before start of the construction work, the railway authorities have asked the Kharagpur DRM to draw up an estimate for the construction of staff quarters.
This railway line will facilitate communication among various parts of Odisha, Jharkhand and West Bengal.
People of Mayurbhanj have long been demanding this project. Leaders cutting across party lines had put forth the demand before the Central government.
The survey of the line was conducted eight years ago but was put on hold after Rail Vikas Nigam Limited raised objections, terming it financially unviable. In 2008, the then Railway Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav had given a go-ahead to the survey for the project and also made a budgetary allocation.
The Central government has decided to link Howrah-Mumbai main line with Rupsa-Bangiriposi line through the proposed Chakulia-Budhamara railway line.
The railway line will start from Budhamara and pass through Jharpokharia, Jamshola, Bhadagda, Borei and Purunapani up to Chakulia.
Budhamara station will be made a junction while block stations will be set up at Jamshola and Borei.
In the letter, it was stated that a 14-km long new railway line will be laid from Thakurtota to Nuagan. There will be station at these two places.
This railway line will provide connectivity from Mayurbhnaj to Kharagpur via Thakurota-NUagan.
Mayurbhnaj MP Biswawar Tudu had held discussion with the railway ministry about rail connectivity from Budhamara to Chakulia, from Bangiriposi to Gorumahisani, Badampahad and Keonjhar, apart from construction of a godown at Bangiriposi.
The railway authorities will soon sign an MoU with the Jharkhand government. The Mayurbhanj MP held talks with Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemanta Soren regarding the land acquisition. The Odisha government has also agreed to provide land.
It may be noted here that in January, 2019, a team led by Executive Engineer (Construction) SER Kharagpur Division SP Tripathy had inspected the project line. The report of the survey had been submitted to General Manager of SER.
In fact, the project got a major push after MP of Rajmahal Lok Sabha Constituency Bijay Hansda and Baharagora MLA Kunal Sarangi in Jharkhand met Union Railway Minister Piyush Goyal January 2, 2019 to apprise him of the need for the rail connectivity between Budhamara and Chakulia which has been a long-standing demand of people of Jharkhand and Mayurbhanj.
Goyal had ordered the GM of the SER to start survey of the 52-km line and submit the report.
The survey team had earlier visited Baripada sub-registrar office and reported on the benchmark valuation of land to be acquired for the proposed railway link.
PNN