Baleswar district on Tuesday witnessed laying of foundation stones for two railway projects, over-bridges, one at Soro and the other at Tamulia Gate at Baleswar.
The stones were laid by Minister of State for Railways Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, in the presence of local MP and Union Minister for Chemicals and Fertilisers Srikant Jena and high officers of the SE Railway, including Additional General Manager and the Chief Administrative Officer.
The Soro project measuring 784 metres would be constructed at an estimated cost of Rs 65.48 crore and the Baleswar over-bride measuring 674 metres at a cost of Rs 44.13 crore. Both the projects have been undertaken with the equal cost sharing by the Central and State Governments.
Chowdhury, addressing a meeting at Baleswar, underlined the strategic importance of the district. He said, “Baleswar has occupied a very significant position in India due to its Defence units, mainly the missile test range. Since the level-crossings between the city area and NH were posing difficulties, these over-bridges would address the issue.”
He made several promises, including running of a passenger train between Baleswar and Nilgiri. Nilgiri, which is an erstwhile Princely State that was annexed with the Union of India in the post-Independence period, is still deprived of a rail line to carry passengers.
There is a line between Baleswar and Nilgiri on which goods trains are running and the Railway Ministry would run a passenger train at the earliest without considering its commercial viability, Chowdhury said. Railway is not a profit-making business entity; it also looks to the social and service aspect. It ensures movement of nearly 2.5 crore people with its 64,000-km rail network, he said.
He also announced that a passenger reservation system would be opened at Baliapal for the people of north Baleswar. Three more ROBs would be constructed between Basta and Jaleswar, for which works are in progress.
Srikant Jena said a base kitchen facility would be constructed at the Baleswar railway station and all the platforms would have foot over-bridges interlinked. He also said the Digha-Jaleswar line, another major rail project, would be completed soon and the State Government has provided land for laying the line.
Jena also mentioned the projects on cards -- establishment of a satellite unit of the AIIMS, a super special 350-bed hospital in Baleswar, a wing of the Baleswar Central Institute of Plastic Engineering (CIPET) at Baliapal, a software park in Baleswar, four-laning of NH-18 between Baleswar and Baripada.