Odisha Development Forum (ODF) submitted a memorandum to Union Railway Minister at Berhampur
Odishabarta
Berhampur:Odisha Development Forum (ODF) submitted a memorandum to Union Railway Minister Ashwani Vaishnav on 19th August, 2021 at Brahmapur Railway Station while he was on his way from Bhubaneswar to Koraput in Hirakhand Express.
The demand included the construction of a Railway Terminal at the oldest Railway station of Odisha i.e. Brahmapur, to initiate and terminate long route trains here, the overall development of the 130-year-old station with better facilities and the construction of a new Station building with more platforms etc..
The Forum requested the Union Minister to start the construction work of the much awaited Brahmapur-Sambalpur via Phulbani, Gopalpur-Rayagada, Gopalpur-Talcher, Gopalpur-Nayagarh via Buguda & Maa Tara Tarini Shakti Peetha, Gunupur-Rayagada Railway line projects. The Forum also urged the minister to start the work of Jeypore-Malkangiri and Malkangiri-Nabarangpur railway lines in South Odisha on priority basis.
The Forum urged the minister to give special attention to setup Sitalapalli Wagon factory (Ganjam) and run daily trains from Brahmapur to Mumbai, Surat, Delhi, Puri and other cities and to extend some of the important North-India bound trains terminating at Bhubaneswar and Puri stations to Brahmapur.
Odisha Development Forum President Ram Prasad Tripathy, Vice-President Smt. Babita Patra, senior members of the forum V. Someshwar Rao, Laxmi Narayan Padhi, Manas Patra, B. Shankar Patra, Pritish Panigrahi, Guru Panda, Gupteswar Sadangi, Swarajya Sahu, Saroj Patnaik, Tuna Maharana, Prakash Pradhan and other members were present on the occasion.
Noteworthy, for the past 20 years, the Odisha Development Forum has been demanding for the development of railway infrastructure in the most backward districts of South Odisha and Western Odisha. Before handing over the list of demands to Union Railway Minister Shri Ashwani Vaishnav, the forum submitted the memo twice to East-Coast Railway General Manager in the past three months.
Forum President Shri Tripathy also informed that to expedite the implementation of railway projects in the backward region of South Odisha, the members of ODF and other 62 organizations will meet the Hon’ble Union Railway Minister in his office in New Delhi soon.
