Union Minister of Railways Ashwini Vaishnaw informed during a virtual press conference on Saturday that the proposed Pandurangapuram – Bhadrachalam – Malkangiri new railway line project will generate one crore man-days employment and reduce the carbon footprint of around 267 crore kg, which is equivalent to planting 3.80 crore trees.
To be taken up as a high priority to provide a new rail route through the tribal belt, the line will act as an alternative rail route between Asansol and Warangal. The project includes connectivity between Junagarh, Nabarangpur, Jeypore, Malkangiri, Bhadrachalam and Pandurangapuram. The new project between Junagarh – Nabarangpur, and Malkangiri-Bhadrachalam – Pandurangapuram at a length of 290 route km is being taken up at a cost of ₹7,383 crore.
Additional rail route
Stating that the new line will immensely benefit Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, he said that it will be an additional rail corridor to northern and eastern India, which will help thermal power plants in southern India to get coal faster, and help aluminium and iron ore industries benefit from better connectivity. It will also offer a wider market to agro products of the Telugu States.
The project will provide an additional rail route to the coastal areas of Vijayawada – Visakhapatnam – Bhubaneshwar – Kolkata. It will provide connectivity to tribal and aspirational districts of Kalahandi, Nabarangpur, Koraput, Rayagada, and Malkangiri districts that were affected by Left Wing Extremism in the past.
The Minister claimed that economic activities have started and peace is being restored in these districts. Socio-economic development of the above districts of Odisha and East Godavari (Andhra Pradesh) and Bhadradri Kothagudem (Telangana) could be envisaged. Besides, the corridor will provide shorter connectivity to power plants situated in Central and South India from the Mahanadi coal field areas.
Disaster management backup route
Mr. Vaishnaw said the new railway line will serve as a disaster management backup route connecting various districts of Odisha even during cyclones if the connectivity of the existing routes gets affected in the Howrah-Vijayawada route. Easy accessibility of food grains, fertilizers, agricultural products and cement to this region would be a bonus.
The distance from southern Odisha and Bastar region to South India will be further reduced by 124 km and become an alternate route bypassing busy corridors like Rajahmundry and Visakhapatnam, said a press release.
