Sonepur: District collector Dasarathi Satapathy has set June 15 as the deadline for completion of land acquisition for the ongoing Sambalpur-Titilagarh doubling of railway line.

At a review meeting of the railway line doubling project on Saturday, Satapathy asked the officials to expedite the land acquisition process and complete the same by June 15.

"The doubling work of the railway line between Sambalpur and Titilagarh is an important project of our area. Sonepur district will reap the benefits of the project if it is completed on time. So, we must extend our support to ensure that the work is completed soon," he said.

The railway line doubling work has affected a few villages in Dunguripali block of Sonepur district.

The collector laid emphasis on acquisition of 4.002 acres of private land and 0.7242 acres of government land. It was revealed that out of the nine acres at San Nuapali, Cherupali and Patharkhandi villages, 5.183 acres have already been acquired. Land acquisition has been completed in Phatamunda village and the villagers have also been paid the compensation.

The district collector ordered to complete the land acquisition in seven other villages immediately. Sonepur sub-collector Balaram Mallick has been asked to speed up the land acquisition process.

The project in the Sambalpur-Titilagarh railway section (182km), which falls in the ambit of the East Coast Railway, has been under way for quite sometime now. Work has been completed on most stretches, while there are land issues on certain stretches.