Bhubaneswar: The Indian Railways has completed Haridaspur-Bairi section of Bhadrak-Nirgundi third line project in Odisha before the deadline.
According to sources, the work on laying the train tracks of 16.80 km between Haridaspur and Bairi, which was targeted to be completed by last week of June, has been completed before 1st week of May. It is part of Bhadrak-Nirgundi third line project in Howrah-Chennai main line between Bhadrak and Cuttack railway stations under Khurda Road division of East Coast Railway.
Stating that more than 50% of construction works of the project have been completed, general manager Manoj Kumar Sharma said the officials have been told to focus on speedy completion of works for the critical projects. They have been advised to coordinate with stakeholders including Odisha government officials for early completion of the projects.
Bhadrak-Nirgundi 3rd line work is expected to boost the economy of the region and provide hassle-free train operations on Howrah-Chennai route. The 92.19-km project was included in 2012-13 and the final sanction was granted in October 2015.
Works between Jakhapura and Haridaspur, a stretch of 23.53 km, was completed in April 2016, from Kapilas Road to Salegaon, a stretch of 4.30 km was commissioned on May 2019 and from Kapilas Road to Nergundi, a distance of 4.20 km commissioned in October 2022 in phased manner.
The Bhadrak-Nirgundi 3rd line work has been targeted be completed by 2023-24. While the project’s cost has been estimated to be Rs 1284.39 crore, already Rs 648.68 crore has been spent.
