To
The President of India, Smt. Patil
The Prime Minister of India, Dr. Singh
UPA Chairperson, Smt. Gandhi
The Speaker of Lok Sabha, Smt. Kumar
The Railway Minister, Smt Mamata Banerjee
The Chief Minister of Odisha, Sri Patnaik
Leader of Opposition, Odisha Assembly, Sri Singh
Chairman of the Railway Expert Committee, Dr Maitra
MPs from Odisha
Media and Intellectuals
Respected Sirs and Madam,
New Year Greetings in Advance!
Though separate East Coast Railway Zone has been established, the new zone has not given much importance towards train connection in place like Kalahandi. Among the far off places Kalahandi is one of the worst sufferers in terms of train connectivity with Odisha’s state capital.
Despite strong local demand to extend Bhubaneswar – Balangir intercity express upto Kesinga and extension of Raipur-Puri intercity express via Titilagarh to via Kesinga, the local people’s desire has not been fulfilled.
Though the railway track distance between Titilagarh and Kesinga is just 13 km, due to lack of a bridge over Tel River there is no direct short road route between Kesinga and Titilagarh that needs additional 40 km to connect these two towns. Extension of Raipur-Puri intercity express via Kesinga may take maximum additional half an hour for the train but will benefit whole Kalahandi region to reach state capital, Bhubaneswar and Raipur, both are two important cities for administrative and commercial need of the region.
Subsequently with Bhawanipatna railway link being operative I request you to kindly extend Howrah-Titilagarh Ispat Express, Bhubaneswar-Balangir express, Raipur – Kesinga passenger, Vizag - Rayagada passenger, Vijaywada – Rayagada passenger and Jharsuguda-Titlagarh passenger trains till upto Bhawanipatna in the coming railway budget. Similarly, new train should be introduced from Bhawanipanta to Vishakhapatnam.
Considering KBK-Kandhamal railway network under economically unviable but socially desired projects and a new Railway division at Bhawanipatna, a central location in KBK-Kandhamal, should be established under East Coast Railway Zone to focus railway development for KBK, Kandhamal, Boudh, Gajapati and Bargarh districts.
In the budget kindly allot substantial amount to complete Khurdha - Balangir line as soon as possible, this line will directly connect Balangir, Sonepur and Boudh with Bhubaneswar.
In the budget 2010-11, approve 100 crore for Kantabanji – Jeypore line considered as heart line connecting Balangir, Nuapada, Kalahandi, Nabarangpur and Koraput districts. This will facilitate first time there will be rail connection to Nabarangpur district by this line.
Speed up the progress of under survey Lanjigarh road - Phulbani – Talcher line connecting Kandhamal, Kalahandi, Nuapada, Titilagarh (Balangir dist), Nabarangpur and Rayagada districts with Bhubaneswar (Orissa’s state capital) by joining with Khurda-Balangir line near Puruna Cuttack (or Charichok). This will not only bring first time railway network to Kandhamal district but also make accessible to large part of inaccessible KBK and Kandhamal region from the state capital directly. Beside that this line will facilitate alumina/coal transportation for NALCO from its refinery in Damajodi to its Smelter in Angul by reducing distance about 100 km.
In the budget 2010-11, kindly consider to survey for Raipur - Rajim - Debhog - Dharamgarh – Junagarh and Lanjigarh road-Gopalpur railway lines directly connecting Bhilai steel plant with Gopalpur port. Beside social development in KBK-Kandhamal-Ganjam region this line may be exploited commercially by many steel, iron and coal plants in Bhilai and Raipur regions to connect with Gopalpur port.
As East Coast Railway Zone is one of the larger profit making zone, more funds should be allotted to this zone for the development of economically unviable but socially desired projects such as KBK-Kandhamal region, I hope all of you will look into this matter for immediate action.
Thanking you and best regards
Digambara Patra
1 comment:
gr8 work bro...
Post a Comment