This story is from July 29, 2021

Odisha: Kalahandi loco POH project caught in land hurdle

The Indian Railways had sanctioned an electric loco periodical overhauling (POH) workshop at Narla in Kalahandi district in the budget 2017-18 with an estimated cost of Rs 186.37 crore.
Odisha: Kalahandi loco POH project caught in land hurdle
BHUBANESWAR: The Indian Railways had sanctioned an electric loco periodical overhauling (POH) workshop at Narla in Kalahandi district in the budget 2017-18 with an estimated cost of Rs 186.37 crore.
But construction work of this project is yet to start. The Railways has received only 141.07 acres out of 328.35 acres of land required so far.
In 2016, the Railways had faced widespread criticism and protest from people of the state for shifting the proposed wagon maintenance workshop in Kalahandi district to Visakhapatnam of Andhra Pradesh.
It had invited sharp political reactions from all the parties. Even chief minister Naveen Patnaik had taken up the issue with the then Railway minister to give an alternate project in Kalahandi district.
Later the Centre had sanctioned the electric loco POH workshop in the Union Budget 2017. This is a maintenance workshop for electric engines. It had sanctioned a token amount in 2017 for the beginning of the project. Four years have already passed, but construction work of the project could not start.
Railway minister Ashwini Vaishnaw while replying to a question of Kalahandi MP Basanta Kumar Panda told Lok Sabha on Wednesday that the project will make progress once complete land is handed over. “Out of 328.35 acres of land required for setting up of the workshop and rail connectivity, the state government of Odisha has handed over 141.07 acres of land in four patches to the Railway,” he added.
An amount of Rs 3.28 crore has been allocated for the project up to the Budget 2021-22, said the reply of the Union minister.

A senior officer of commerce and transport department said construction will take at least two to four years and the Railways should start construction as soon as it gets such a large patch of land (141 acres) for the entire plant site at the state government’s cost.
He said the Railways had requested land for connecting Narla station with the workshop. “For this connectivity portion, the state government has agreed to give that land for free. But since it invokes a large chunk of forest land, due procedure will be followed for forest diversion and other works according to the rule. It will take some time. Railways shouldn’t wait for the connectivity land as it can come subsequently and match the timing of the progress of the plant site,” he added.
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About the Author
Hemanta Pradhan

Hemanta Pradhan writes for the Times of India on education, hospital issues, transport, agriculture & tribal affairs. He has been working as a journalist since 2011. He has a PG degree in Journalism & Mass Communication from Berhampur University. He has won Laadli Media Awards for gender sensitivity.

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