‘Land acquisition for rail line to be completed soon’

Bhubaneswar: The state government will complete the land acquisition process in Nayagarh district for the Khurda Road-Balangir railway line within a week, chief secretary Suresh Chandra Mahapatra said on Saturday.
A major portion of the 301km-long project will be in Nayagarh district. Mahapatra said that the government has handed over land in 98 out of 99 villages for the work. “The remaining land will be handed over within the next seven days,” he added.
“Except for an eco-sensitive zone in Boudh district, most of the land acquisition process for the project is over. Around 40 km of the rail line passes through a dense forest in Boudh. Around 20 km out of that lies in an eco-sensitive zone as it crosses near a sanctuary,” he added.
Due to the eco-sensitive zone, getting permission for forest diversion is difficult. In June, the Supreme Court while hearing a case had directed that a 1-km area around every protected forest, national park or wildlife sanctuary be declared as an eco-sensitive zone where no mining, construction and other projects will be allowed.
Mahapatra said the state government has written a letter to the Centre on the issue. “As it is an ongoing project, there should be no restriction to acquire forest land. The Centre should provide an exception for the ongoing project,” he added.
Official sources said after getting stage-I permission for the 40-km stretch in Boudh, the railways can start construction.