Not An Inch Of Railway Track In Odisha Given To Other Divisions: Minister

Bhubaneswar: Union minister of State for Railways Manoj Sinha on Monday maintained that not an inch of railway track in Odisha had been given to other railway divisions.

“The BJD government has no reason to protest as my ministry has not ceded even an inch of railway track in Odisha to other railway divisions,” Sinha told journalists here. “The Centre is going to create a new division under East Coast Railway (ECoR) at Rayagada.”

The Union minister said that in the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act- 2014, the BJP had made a key promise in Parliament to carve out a South Coast Railway by bifurcating Waltair division and merging one part with the Vijayawada division under SCoR, while the other part stays headquartered at Rayagada under ECoR.

Stating that the Centre had in the past five years made budget allocation to the tune of Rs 27,000 crore for development of railway sector in Odisha, Sinha said the railway ministry will expedite infrastructure development if the state government hands over the land in time.

Protesting against bifurcation of the ECoR’s Waltair division, the BJD youth and students’ wings had staged a demonstration during the Union minister’s visit on Sunday night.

“The BJD students’ wing wants to ask the railway minister how dare he visit Odisha after bifurcating ECoR,” BJD general secretary Sanjay Dasburma said. “He has to clarify whether he will withdraw the anti-Odisha stand or stick to his decision.”

Reacting to Dasburma’s statement, Union minister Dharmendra Pradhan said the BJD was shedding crocodile tears on the matter. “None of the BJD leaders had raised their voice when the decision was taken in Parliament. Why is the BJD protesting against ECoR’s railway division in KBK districts? Let there be no attempt to stall railway infrastructure development in Odisha in the name of protests and demonstrations,” he said.