BHUBANESWAR: Diversion of forest land has become a major hurdle in completion of the 289-km Khurda Road-Balangir new line project which connects western Odisha with the coastal part of the state. Out of 1844 acres of forest land required for the project, diversion of only 170 acres has been completed so far.
Railway minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on Wednesday told Lok Sabha that the project involves acquisition of 6,162 acres of land and diversion of 1,844 acres of forest land. Out of these, 5,333 acres of land has been acquired and diversion of 170 acres of forest land has been completed. State government has to acquire 829 acres of land and take action for diversion of 1,674 acres of forest land, he added.
The Odisha government has entered a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the ministry of railways to provide land free of cost for Khurda Road-Balangir new line and Jeypore-Nabarangpur new line. It is one of the oldest projects sanctioned in 1994-95. So far, work for 92 km of the total length (Khurda Road to Mahipur (77 km) and 15km stretch between Balangir and Bichupalli) of the project has been commissioned.
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