Rourkela Railway Division demanded

Rourkela :In a memorandum to the Union Railway Minister, Ms Mamata Banerjee, Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik and other higher authorities of Indian Railways, the members of Rourkela Development Forum & Rourkela Railfanning Association have urged for the creation of a new East Coast Railway Division headquartered at Rourkela.
Justifying their demand they have mentioned that Sundargarh, Jharsuguda and Kendujhargarh districts of Odisha , account for the heavy revenue generated by Chakradharpur Division of South Eastern Railway Zone, but unfortunately remain the most neglected regions in comparison to rail connectivity and facilities in other parts of the country.
The mineral rich Chotanagpur Plateau region popularly known as “Ruhr of India” due to its innumerable industries and mines, comprises of the mineral rich Sundargarh, Kendujhargarh and Jharsuguda Districts of Odisha from where Iron Ore and other minerals are transported throughout the country. Further the region houses a number of heavy industries like Rourkela Steel Plant, OCL-Rajgangpur; Adhunik Metalliks; L&T- Kansbahal , Bhusan Steel and Power; Vedanta etc. which pay a huge amount to the railways for transportation of raw materials as well as finished products. Hence a lot of freight activity is noticed in this region, which has made Chakradharpur Division the highest revenue generating division in the country, a number of times.
They have further mentioned that out of the total 741.705 route kms. of Chakradharpur Division, 405.907 kms are located in the state of Odisha covering about 50 stations out of the total 87 stations of Chakradharpur Division. Only Sundargarh district generates about Rs 800 crores annually, which accounts for 40% of the total revenue generated by Chakradharpur Division. Similarly Jharsuguda is an emerging industrial hub with a number of operating mega projects, while a number of industries are in the offing. Kendujhargarh is popular for its innumerous mines. Its natural that the people will have high expectations from the Railway Budget every year but most of the times they are met with empty hands, they alleged.
The region which is considered as one of the most backward pockets of the country with a huge tribal population, has been deprived of the basic railway infrastructure and this is considered as the biggest stumbling block in the development of the region and its principal urban center, Rourkela – Rajgangpur- Jharsuguda area. Lack of proper communication facilities and infrastructure has led to the increase of naxalite activities in the region.
Less number of trains, poor maintainance of stations, no developmental activity, poor connectivity, zero railway projects, lack of proper health care etc, are some of the examples to be mentioned. Not even 10 percent of the total revenue generated is spent on this area., A number of times ,many organizations from Rourkela have raised vital issues with the higher authorities of South Eastern Railways, but they seem to have taken no interest in all these.
Every time due to natural calamity or any insurgent activity, Rourkela has to bear the brunt as trains are either cancelled or diverted, as it is happening in case of Utkal and Samaleswari with no alternative arrangement.
Talcher-Bimalagarh railway route which could have been a boon to the tribal districts of Sundargarh and Keonjhar also provide connectivity to Coastal Odisha, is being overlooked since 1885 after the positive cost and benefit analysis. Even now the funding is much less for this project and the current rate it will take more 20 years to be completed.
On the contrary, East Coast Railways has created a saga of success and development, since its establishment in 2003. The rapid growth of East Coast Railways can be judged by its excellent maintainance of even its low class stations, they further added.
Currently Waltair (Visakhapatnam) Division of East Coast Railways considered to be developed as a new railway zone including the Andhra districts of Visakhapatnam, Srikakulam and Vizianagram. Hence in the same justified manner, Rourkela Division should be constituted with the Odisha districts of Sundargarh, Keonjhar and Jharsuguda, which will benefit more than 50 lakhs people.
Rourkela-Biramitrapur ; Rourkela-Nuagaon ; Rourkela-Jaraikela ;Rourkela-Barsuan Mines ; Rourkela-Jharsuguda-Belpahar-Kotarila ; Talcher-Bimalagarh ; Bansapani-Bimalagarh ; Kiriburu-Gua ; Kiriburu-Bolanikhadan ; Jharsuguda-Sundargarh-Talsara ; Gua-Padapahar-Kendujhargarh are some of the routes that should be included in Rourkela Division.
The vacant bungalows in Bondamunda can be used for activities of the railway division and the ARM office at Bondamunda can be upgraded to DRM office. Rourkela has sufficient infrastructure and potential to be the headquarters of the new division, asserted the forum