Khurda-Balangirline chugs 10km

Bhubaneswar: A 10.35 km stretch of railway tracks from Bichhupali to Jhartarbha stations, from the Balangir side of the Khurda-Balangir new line, has been completed. The railway has commissioned 105 km of the 30-km new line project so far.
On January 15, 2019, Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the 14.58-km Balangir-Bichhupali section. He had also flagged off a passenger train in this section from Balangir, but it was stopped since Covid-19 hit the country. The next section is Bichhupali-Jhartarabha.
Official sources said the line will be commissioned shortly. A commission of railway safety (CRS) survey will be conducted before the commissioning of the rail line. Clearance from CRS is required for movement of trains in this section.
The East Coast Railway (ECoR) is laying railway tracks from both ends of this project.
Out of 301-km, so far, the ECoR has commissioned around 90.43 km line from Khurda Road and around 14.58 km from Balangir. After commissioning of the Bichhupali-Jhartarbha section, it will touch 115.36 km.
The 13km-long Mahipur-Nuagaon stretch of this project from Khurda Road side was commissioned on June 30. Railway minister Ashwini Vaishnaw had flagged off a passenger train in the route too.
From Khurda Road, ECoR has been constructing the Nuagaon-Daspalla (15.4 km) section. It has forest clearance and land issues between Buguda and Purunakatak. But the section from Sonepur to Jhartarbha via Khambeswarpalli has no problem and work is underway, an official source said.
This new line project was sanctioned in 1995. The estimated cost of this project is now Rs 3,791 crore. The deadline of this project has changed several times.
According to the MoU signed between the state government and the Centre in 2016, the date of completion of the project was May 2021. But now it has been changed again to 2025.
Official sources said diversion of forest land has become a major hurdle in completion of this project, which connects western Odisha with the coastal part of the state. Out of 1,844 acres of forest land required for the project, diversion of only 170 acres has been completed by March this year.