Naveen Patnaik writes to Piyush Goyal for realignment of rail route

Bhubaneswar, Jan 21 The Odisha government Monday worte to the Centre looking for change in route alignment of the Balasore-Digha broad gauge rail project.

The project, sanctioned in 2011, has not kicked off yet due of land acquisition issues in neighbouring West Bengal, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik said.

Of the 41-kilometre rail extend, seven km is set to go through West Bengal and the rest through Odisha.

In his letter to Union Railway Minister Piyush Goyal, Patnaik guaranteed him that the state will provide necessary support for acquiring land if the proposal is approved.

"As this important project in Odisha has been stalled down for over seven years, I would request you to kindly intervene into the issue and take an early decision to change the arrangement with the goal that the course may completely go through Odisha," Patnaik said.

The chief minister also reminded Goyal that he had written to the PM, as well, on a previous occasion with the same request.

In 2011, in a correspondence to the then PM, the CM had recommended that the course go through Odisha, contacting traveler and visitor locales, for example, Bhusandheswar, Chandaneswar and Talsari-Udayapur shoreline, before entering Digha in Bengal.

The alignment won't simply help in boosting tourism but aid in improving socio-economic condition of the region, he had added.