Although Mayurbhanj has got railway lines and train services for over a hundred years now, it has been deprived of proportionate development in the sector in the port-Independence era.
“The Mayurbhanj people’s long-awaited dream of Bangiriposi-Gorumahisani Railway link has not yet been fulfilled. It is a grim reminder of Railway authorities’ indifference towards this ever-neglected, tribal-dominated district,” alleged many.
It was during the dawn of the 20th Century that Bangiriposi-Rupsa and Badampahar-Tata narrow gauge railway lines came into existence and trains, though of smaller sizes, began plying on them. These were great events of those times.
After a hundred years, at the outset of the 21st Century, during the Vajpayee-led NDA-I regime, steps were taken for conversion of Rupsa-Bangriposi narrow gauge railway line into a broad gauge one. And, finally, it was during the UPA-I regime that a full-fledged Baripada-Rupsa DMU train (on a converted broad gauge railway line) was flagged off by the then Railway Minister lalu Yadav. Shortly afterwards, Baripada-BBSR Superfast train also began to run.
But the irony is that the longstanding demand of connecting Rupsa-Bangriposi railway line of the Kharagpur Division with Tata-Badampahar railway line (at Gorumahisani) of Chakradharpur Division, which many believe could be the lifeline of Mayurbhanj has not been met so far. The distance between Gorumahisani and Bangriposi is 42 km only and they can be rail-linked at an estimated cost of Rs 522 crore. And, once this is done, trains coming from Puri-Bhubaneswar-Cuttack could proceed towards New Delhi via Mayurbhanj towns like Baripada, Bangriposi and Rairangpur and, in that case, the Delhi-Puri distance would be reduced by about 150 km.
Though the survey work for this railway project was completed about three years back and at that time the project cost was put at Rs 211 crore, it has now raised to Rs 521.63 crore. Since the Railway Board is yet to put its seal of approval on the increased estimate, the project fails to take off,
The State Government’s indifference is cited as another important reason for the non-realisation of this dream-project of the Mayurbhanj people. While the State Government has been offering free-of-cost land and a share of the construction cost for some of the other railway projects in Odisha, it is not doing so as regards to this Gorumahisani-Bangriposi rail project.
Under these circumstances, the Mayubhanj Railway Travellers’ Forum and the “Mayurbhanj Railway Development Committee” have called upon all public representatives and political leaders of the district to come together to raise a united voice to end the State Government’s indifference and the South Eastern Railway’s step-motherly attitude towards this district in order to realise the long-cherished dream of the people of north Odisha.