Bhubaneswar: Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Friday urged the Centre to create three railway divisions under East Coast Railway (ECoR) in Odisha.
In a letter to Union Minister of Railways Piyush Goyal, the Chief Minister said the ECoR, which was made functional from April 1, 2013 with three divisions—Khurda Road, Sambalpur and Waltair— has become the largest contributor to the Indian Railways being the premier freight loading railway and at the same time also boasts of one of the lowest operating costs amongst all the zonal railways.
However, it is being progressively realized by all concerned that the artificial barriers of divisional and zonal boundaries are now impeding further growth which Odisha is capable of offering to Indian Railways. In this context, the state government has been drawing the attention of the Railway Ministry to consider expanding the jurisdiction of ECoR to cover to cover all parts of Odisha under one zone to enhance the benefits of integration and unhindered mobility within this growth intensive state, Patnaik said.
“If a comparative study of the development and mobility in parts of Odisha under ECoR, South Eastern Railway (SER) and South Eastern Central Railway (SECR) is made, it will buttress the proposal being made by us. Therefore, the expansion of ECoR has become a necessity in light of the recent industrial projects coming up in the state to ensure better coordination and facilitation of bulk customers”, the Chief Minister said.
He said he has requested the Railway Ministry on more than one occasion in the past with the latest being his budget proposal for 2018-19 to establish a new division at Rourkela under ECoR, with jurisdiction covering Jharsuguda-Barsuan-Kiriburu (SER), Rourkela-Nuagaon (SER) and Jharsuguda-Himgiri (SECR) sections.
Besides, the jurisdiction of ECoR may be extended to include Bansapani-Padapahar, Rupsa-Bangiriposi and Bhadrak-Laxmannath Road sections and a new railway division should be set up with headquarters at Jajpur/Jajpur-Keonjhar road, Patnaik said.
He also demanded that a new railway division may be set up at Rayagada under the jurisdiction of ECoR comprising Nuapada-Gunupur with proposed extension to Theruvali/Rayagada, Rayagada-Titlagarh-Raipur, Koraput-Rayagada, Koraput-Jeypore-Jagdalpur-Kirandul, Lanjigarh road-Junagarh and the proposed railway lines in Malkangiri, Koraput and Nabarangpur districts.
