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Railway Budget: forum alleges raw deal to KBK region

Correspondent

KORAPUT: Members of the Koraput Citizens Forum on Tuesday said injustice was done to the KBK region in this year's Railway Budget.

Reacting to the budgetary allocation of Rs. 2 crores for development of Koraput-Rayagada railway line, Narayana Panda, retired principal of Jeypore Women's College, said the grant was far from sufficient.

Speaking at a meeting organised by the forum here, he said though the Union Railway Ministry was getting good revenue from the route, it was unfair on its part to allocate such a meagre grant for development of the route which was frequently hit by landslides.

He said no new trains were sanctioned for the region nor any existing train was extended. The Ministry totally failed to address the concerns of people of the region.

With growing industrialisation more and more people were visiting the region and it needed a better rail connection to south and north from Koraput, he said.

No facilities

The forum also stressed the need for a dormitory at Koraput railway station for the convenience of passengers coming from far off places like Malkangiri and Umerkote. Condition of the road and station was also highlighted at the meeting.

The station catering to thousands of passengers lacked a restaurant or even a book stall and the road connecting railway station to the national highway was in a very bad shape and hence it needed a greater attention by the Ministry, the members felt.

The forum has sent a memorandum with a charter of demands to the Union Railway Ministry.

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