Rs 2,345 crore sought for upgrading rail network

BHUBANESWAR: A slew of proposals for expansion and augmentation of rail network and development of allied rail facilities in Odisha was presented to the Railway Minister Dinesh Trivedi in Delhi by the committee of the Legislative Assembly led by Speaker Pradip Kumar Amat on Thursday. In a memorandum, the House Committee also demanded improvement of passenger amenities at stations and onboard, introduction of new trains, extension and increase in frequency of existing popular trains. For early completion of the ongoing projects they demanded an allocation of ` 2,345 crore in the 2012-13 Railway Budget. Stating that the rate of returns from certain projects was high, the committee demanded early completion of Khurda Road-Balangir, Haridaspur-Paradip and doubling of Khurda Road-Puri lines. “These projects were lagging behind only due to inadequate financial provision in successive rail budgets,” the memorandum said. “Special emphasis was laid on rail infrastructure in underdeveloped interior parts of the State for faster socio-economic development and opening up of new areas for industrialisation,” Amat said. The major demands include completion of ongoing projects like six broad gauge rail links, two gauge conversion projects, electrification work, doubling of rail lines and other allied rail facilities and amenities.  The Ministry was requested to sanction three missing links, nine other new lines, doubling of two new rail lines, three electrification works, 20 new trains, increase in frequency of 16 trains, extension of nine trains, 18 adarsh stations and eight multi-functional complexes.The State Government had last year demanded` 2,085 crore but received only `1,168 crore, which was inadequate to meet the requirement, a member of the committee said.Highlighting that Odisha contributed nearly ` 7,500 crore per annum to Railways, the Ministers and MPs pointed out that the authorities should also reciprocate in expanding the rail network in the State. Finance Minister Prafulla Ghadei, Minister of State for Energy Atanu Sabyasachi Nayak, Minister of State for Commerce and Transport Sanjeeb Sahu, leader of the BJP legislature party KV Singhdeo, MPs Bhakta Das, Rudra Narayana Pani and Renubala Pradhan were present, among others.