Odisha To Complete Land Acquisition For Khurda-Balangir Rly Line By August: Minister

Bhubaneswar: The state government will complete land acquisition for the Khurda-Balangir railway line project by August, Commerce and Transport Minister Padmanabha Behera said on Thursday.

“We had a meeting today (Thursday) on the Khurda-Balangir railway line project. It was decided at the meeting to complete whatever little land acquisition remains for the project by August,” the minister told the media at Lok Seva Bhavan here.

Giving details, Behera said that only land acquisition for the Daspalla-Boudh part remained for the proposed project.

“River Brutanga, a sanctuary and forest fall in that section. Forest clearance is causing a bit of delay. But we have decided to complete land acquisition by August despite all odds,” he added.

The announcement came a day after the Odisha Speaker and Chairman of the House Committee on Railways, Surjya Narayan Patro, had informed that the Railway Minister, Piyush Goyal, assured him that central funds won’t be a constraint provided the state government completed land acquisition and handed over land for ongoing railway line projects in Odisha.

Notably, Patro had led a delegation comprising the members of the House Committee and some Odisha MPs to meet Goyal to present a memorandum on the inadequate provision in the rail budget for the state.