The work of Railway track linking work will soon commence between Gudum- Keoti Section in the 17.6 Km to 42.6-km stretch as part of the new Rail link being developed between Dallirajhara and Rowghat in Raipur Division of South East Central Railway (SECR) in the State, officials sources informed.
Notably, the Steel Authority of India ltd (SAIl) is co-ordinating the construction of Rail line from DaIlirajhara to Rowghat covering a distance of 95-km with Indian Railways in Chhattisgarh.
The project for doubling of Railway line between Kirandul and Jagdalpur in Chhatisgarh’s insurgency ridden Bastar region is expected to be complete by January 2019, official sources informed.
Notably, NMDC ltd — the country’s largest iron ore producer and exporter had also signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Union Ministry of Railways on December 21, 2012 and the aforesaid project would be helpful in significantly augmenting evacuation capacity of NMDC’s Bailadila Sector mines by rail from the existing 28 MTPA to 40 MTPA of iron ore.
NMDC had deposited an amount of Rs150 crore with East Coast Railway and the expenditure incurred as on March 31, 2015 was Rs132.00 crore, sources informed.
For execution of the project, the Railways has divided the 150-km length of doubling work into three Sections namely, Jagdalpur to Silakjori 45.50 km, Kirandul to Gidam 52.23 km and Silakjori to Gidam 52.73 km.
Notably, the Rs2,000 crore Rowghat to Jagdalpur railway line would also pass through heavily insurgency infested Kondagaon and Narayanpur districts of Bastar division in Chhattisgarh, officials stated.
The project is a joint venture between Chhattisgarh Government, NMDC, SAIl and IRCON.
The initial stretch of the first phase of the ambitious 235-km-long Dallirajhara-Rowghat-Jagdalpur Railway line project in Bastar division of Chhattisgarh has been completed, officials stated.
In all, 17-km Rail track has been completed in the first phase and Chief Minister Raman Singh has expressed happiness over the achievement, they stated.
A successful trial run of a Railway diesel engine was also carried out between Dallirajhara till Gudum village at the speed of 20-km per hour.
The Chief Minister had congratulated Railway engineers, officers and workers associated with the project.
In his message, Singh had stated that this Rail project will help in economic development of Tribal dominated Bastar region and Balod district as well.
“Upon completion of the project, Narayanpur and Kondagaon of Bastar region will be directly connected through Raipur, Bilaspur Durg and other parts of the country via Rail network. This project will open new doors of economic development for people of Bastar,” the Chief Minister said adding, the project will also supply iron ore to Bhilai Steel Plant from Rowghat.
Notably, the development of two key Rail corridors in mineral-rich Chhattisgarh is now set to expand the Railway line network by 45 per cent in the State, officials stated.
The completion of 235-km Dallirajhara-Rowghat-Jagdalpur, East and East-West Rail corridor (300 km) projects will comprise a total of 535 kilometers Railway-line during the next two to four years, they stated.
Chhattisgarh currently has only 1,187 route kilometres of Railway lines.
