Bhubaneswar, Dec. 15: The proposal to construct a model railway station in Bhubaneswar by upgrading the existing infrastructure has drawn renewed attention with chief minister Naveen Patnaik writing to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and railway minister Sadanand Gowda seeking funds for the project.
Naveen has also assured the central government that it will bear 50 per cent of the cost for turning the Bhubaneswar railway station into a model one. Chief public relations officer of East Coast Railway (ECoR) J.P. Mishra told The Telegraph: "We are getting all kinds of support from the state government."
However, the ground realities indicate that the project may remain a distant dream for Bhubaneswar as the state government, despite all its assistance, has reportedlyfailed to pursue the case consistently with the central government.
A source in the railway said: "Had the state government pursued the case properly, the results would have been different." In 2012, ECoR had chalked out a plan to turn Bhubaneswar into a model station. Subsequently, the then general manager of the railway, Indra Ghosh, had also made a presentation before chief minister Naveen Patnaik in this regard. ECoR had then unveiled a Rs 205-crore plan to upgrade the railway station.
Initially, a world-class station was planned in Bhubaneswar in 2009. Seven to nine lakh passengers, including many foreign tourists, pass through this railway station every month, while some 120 trains cross it every day.
The makeover plan of ECoR included construction of a flyover at Master Canteen roundabout, two additional platforms, a new station building with state-of-the-art facilities, circulating area and a multi-level parking facility which could accommodate more than 900 cars and 4,000 two-wheelers.
There were also plans to build five second-class air-conditioned waiting halls with a capacity of 200 passengers each, four upper-class waiting halls, two executive lounges, a VIP lounge and several multi-cuisine food kiosks, bookshops and medicine shops at the station. A satellite passenger terminal for Bhubaneswar city was also planned.
However, sources revealed that work for none of these plans have started yet. So far, only the work of station beautification has been taken up by spending Rs 45 crore. The station building has also undergone some repairs.
Pointing at the reasons that delayed the model station project, another railway official said that work for the parking space and the flyover on Master Canteen Square could not be taken up as the state government was yet to raze a number of illegal shops and the Ashok Market in the area, which would have paved the way for construction.
"Most of these shops belong to politically-influential people," said the source.
Admitting that the raze drive was yet to be undertaken, Bhubaneswar Development Authority secretary Ranjan Das said: "We have held two rounds of meetings with the shopkeepers. We can start the process of demolishing the shops and rehabilitating the shop-owners in other locations only when the government issues an order for that."
"We tried to demolish the shops twice. But there was no instruction from the general administration department. So, we had to stop the work abruptly. Now, shop-owners have again encroached upon the land," Das said.
General administration department additional secretary R.N. Das, however, denied any inaction or delay on their part which was posing a hindrance to the project work.
"We have the required land and we will ask BDA to evict encroachers from there once we get a clear picture about the model station project," he said.
