Land Acquisition For 138-Km Bargarh-Nuapada Railway Line In Odisha On Track

Bhubaneswar: With the land acquisition process for railway line connecting Odisha’s Bargarh and Nuapada districts progressing smoothly, the Indian Railways looks forward to start the strategic project work soon.

The Bargarh Road-Nuapada project is a major infrastructure expansion for the Railways in Odisha with the construction of a 138.32 km new. This strategic project is set to improve connectivity, boost regional development, generate employment and offer significant benefits to both passenger and freight transportation in the region.

Financial Overview

The Railway Board sanctioned the project on September 10, 2024, with a total cost of Rs 2621.92 crore. Of this, the budget for the Civil Engineering is Rs 2107.30 crore, Electrical Engineering Rs. 305.55 crore and Signal & Telecom Engineering Rs. 209.07 crore. The Odisha government has provided land free of cost and offered a grant of Rs 300 crore for the project.

Land Acquisition

The project necessitates acquisition of 924.64 hectare (HA) of land, amounting to approximately Rs. 364 crore. The land to be acquired includes 752.524 HA of private land, 123.233 HA of government land and 48.913 HA of forest land.

The competent authorities for land acquisition in both Bargarh and Nuapada districts have been appointed on October 15, 2024 and November 29, 2024, respectively.

Salient Features of the Project

• The new rail line will be an electrified broad gauge (BG) mail line from Bargarh Road to Nawapada Road, passing through Padmapur, providing an alternative shorter route and bypassing the congested Jharsuguda-Bilaspur-Raipur circuit.
• This new route will reduce the travel distance by 53 km compared to the Sambalpur-Jharsuguda-Raipur route and 87 km compared to the Sambalpur-Titilagarh-Raipur route, facilitating quicker transit of goods and passengers.
• The project will have 13 stations, including 2 existing stations and 11 new stations, improving accessibility across the region.

The proposed alignment and station locations:

1. Bargarh Road (Existing) – Bargarh
2. Sarsara (New) – 6.495 km from Bargarh, Bargarh
3. Dumerpali (New) – 17.44 km from Bargarh, Bargarh
4. Bijepur (New) – 26.97 km from Bargarh, Bargarh
5. Badipali (New) – 40.185 km from Bargarh, Bargarh
6. Dhauramunda (New) – 58.925 km from Bargarh, Bargarh
7. Padampur (New) – 72.445 km from Bargarh, Bargarh
8. Bhagatpur (New) – 87.365 km from Bargarh, Bargarh
9. Majhipali (New) – 94.98 km from Bargarh, Bargarh
10. Paikmal Road (New) – 106.11 km from Bargarh, Bargarh
11. Bartunda (New) – 117.61 km from Bargarh, Bargarh
12. Anlajuba (New) – 112.2 km from Bargarh, Nuapada
13. Nuapada Road (Existing) – 138.32 km from Bargarh, Nuapada