Expressbuzz, Feb 4, 2009
BHUBANESWAR: Agami Odisha and several organisations staged a demonstration in front of the headquarters of the East Coast Railway here today demanding development of railway network in Kandhamal and other backward regions of the State.
In a memorandum addressed to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, the organisations maintained that Kandhamal and Kalahandi-Balangir-Koraput (KBK) regions are most backward areas of the country.
Similar backward areas in the country like the north-eastern states have received special treatment from the Railway Board but the KBK region has been neglected for decades, the memorandum alleged and demanded a special package for the region.
Alleging step-motherly attitude of the Railways towards the State, the memorandum maintained that Khurda Road- Balangir and Lanjigarh Road- Junagarh railway lines in Orissa were approved much earlier than Muzaffarpur-Sitamarhi and Sultanganj-Deogarh railway lines in Bihar, but only 10 per cent work has been completed.
But both the projects in Bihar have been completed.
During last 15 years more lines were approved in Bihar, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and West Bengal than in Orissa, it alleged and demanded that a Kandhamal rail link should be sanctioned.
Former MP and CPM leader Shivaji Patnaik participated in the demonstration.
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