Plan panel okays railway project to link Gopalpur, Rayagada

Planning Commission has in principle approved the railway project to link Gopalpur and Rayagada of south Odisha. The proposed new broad gauge railway track to link these to places is to cost Rs. 1,392.327 crore. The 258-km long proposed railway track is a long-standing demand of the people of south Odisha. It is hoped that with its inception the track will be a major catalyst of development of underdeveloped areas of Rayagada district. As per the assessment, Rate of Return (RoR) of the proposed project will be 15.04 per cent. It may be noted that RoR provides the ratio of each rupee earned against an expenditure of Rs. 100. According to sources, the proposed track will be of great help for the industrial growth of south Orissa. It will streamline the transportation of bauxite ore from Koraput and Rayagada districts of south Orissa to processing units and transportation of the processed alumina and aluminium ingots from manufacturing units at Damanjodi or Angul to the ports. The railway track may also be used to carry coal from Ib valley to various parts of south Orissa. It will be the link of Gopalpur port and the Industrial town of Rayagada. The track will also link several towns of Ganjam and Kandhamal districts like Bhanjanagar, Aska, Tikabali, Phulbani etc which till date do not have any railway link. Praising the UPA government for approving this long standing demand, former Union Minister Chandra Sekhar Sahu has asked the State government and Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik to take immediate measures to provide land and other infrastructure for the railway project. “I have urged the Railway Minister to allocate funds for the project in next railway budget,” he said. According to him, lack of proper assistance from the State government can delay such projects. He has alleged that the railway wagon factory project, proposed at Sitalapalli, is delayed only due to this. “Similar delaying tactics should not be used by the State government for this proposed railway track project between Gopalpur and Rayagada,” he has said.

Source: The Hindu