Ganjam district's wish list for Railway Budget

People of Ganjam have sought more funds for the proposed wagon factory near Berhampur, new railway lines from Gopalpur to Rayagada and Berhampur to Sambalapur via Phulbani and a direct train from Berhampur to New Delhi in the Railway Budget scheduled for Tuesday.

Besides daily trains from Berhampur to New Delhi, Surat, Rourkela and Puri; according model station status to Berhampur have also been demanded by several organizations of the District. "I have already apprised railway minister Pawan Kumar Bansal of the grievances of the people of the region and urged him to give priority to these projects in the railway budget," said BJD leader and Rajya Sabha member Renubala Pradhan. A railway wagon factory was announced to be set up at Sitalapalli in the 2011-12 railway budget. In the last budget, Rs 1 crore was allotted for it. The state government has also identified around 100 acre for factory.

The Planning Commission accorded 'in principle' approval to the railway ministry's proposal for laying of 258-km railway line from Gopalpur to Rayagada in June, 2012. The estimated cost of the new railway line was about Rs 1,392.32 crore.

Congress leader and former union minister Chandra Sekhar Sahu said he has written a letter to the railway minister to provide more funds for these projects and sanction a train from Berhampur to New Delhi. The survey work for Gopalpur-Rayagada line was conduced when Sahu was union minister. "It's my dream to see the port town is connected to the industrial town," Sahu said.

"These rail projects are necessary as several major industries and port projects are coming up. Since the state government is ready to extend all cooperation for execution of the projects, we hope the union minister will allocate funds for these projects," said MLA (Gopalpur) Pradeep Panigrahi. Development of Berhampur station is needed, said Arjuna Sahu, president of senior citizens' forum here.

Source: Times of India