Bhubaneswar: Construction of the 21.7 km Jhartarbha-Sonepur section of Khurda Road-Balangir new line in Odisha is likely to be ready by the end of August.
With this, Sonepur town will find a place on the railway map. The railway line from Balangir has been completed till Jhartarbha.
Sources said the railways has so far commissioned 115 km of railway line out of 301 km of the project, which was sanctioned in 1994-95. It has completed 90.4 km from Khurda Road to Nuagaon and 24.9 km from Balangir to Jhartarabha.
Sources in East Coast Railway (ECoR) said the Jhartarbha-Khambeswarpalli stretch (11.4km) from Balangir side will be ready by the end of June. Similarly, the 10.3 km section from Khambeswarpalli to Sonepur will be over by August-end.
Though the railways had set a target to complete the construction work of these two sections by March this year, it could not finish the work. It had also targeted to complete Nuagaon-Daspalla (15.4km) section from Khurda Road by March this year, but it will also take extra time.
The major hurdle for Khurda Road-Balangir new line was cleared in February this year. The much-awaited forest clearance of 68 km stretch on the newline has been granted. The forest clearance was crucial for the project’s growth. The 68 km railway section (1,469 acres of land) between Dasapalla and Purunakatak has received the permission.
This rail line will connect Khurda, Nayagarh, Boudh, Kandhamal, Sonepur and Balangir districts. The deadline of the project is December 2025. The estimated cost of this project is now Rs 3,791 crore.
