Orissa HC Issues Notice To Govt On Talcher-Bimlagarh Rly Project

Cuttack: The Orissa High Court has issued a direction to the state government to file the status of land acquisition for Talcher-Bimlagarh train line project.

The High Court took up the hearing of the case almost two years after two Public Interest Litigations (PILs) were filed in this regard. Hearing the PIL of Sachetan Nagarik Manch (SNM) filed by PP Ray and 31 others, Chief Justice of the High Court Dr S Muralidhar issued the direction to the Odisha Government.

The High Court told the government to file its response on the land acquisition status by October 10. The direction came after the counsel for the SNM Sisir Das vehemently opposed inordinate delay in the process of land acquisition for the project which has been a long due demand of the people of the area.

Das claimed before the court that not a single inch of land was physically handed over to the East Coast Railway (ECoR) in Sundargarh and Deogarh districts in 19 years since the project was sanctioned in 2003-04.

The HIgh Court has also asked Das to file his reply by the same date.