Bhubaneswar: The state government on Friday opposed the move for reorganisation of the railways and demanded creation of three more zones under East Coast Railway.

In a letter to railway minister Piyush Goyal, chief minister Naveen Patnaik on Friday said: "It is learnt that the Ministry of Railways is considering setting up a new Railway Zone, headquartered in the State of Andhra Pradesh, which has lost the zonal headquarters of South Central Railway, Secunderabad. I understand that there is a demand for the existing Waltair Railway Division (Visakhapatnam) to be taken out from the jurisdiction of the East Coast Railway to facilitate formation of a new Railway Zone in Andhra Pradesh."

"While opposing this one-sided move, I would like to put forth the views of my State, which is a large stakeholder in the Railways in Odisha," said Naveen.

Stating that the expansion of East Coast Railway has become a necessity in the light of the recent industrial projects coming up in Odisha to ensure better coordination and facilitation of bulk customers, Naveen said: "I have already requested on more than one occasion in the past, to create three more Railway Divisions under the East Coast Railway."

The proposed headquarters were Rourkela, Jajpur/ Jajpur-Keonjhar Road and Rayagada.#

"The proposed reorganisation will help the Railways in better delivery of services in the state in terms of both meeting the requirements of the large and medium freight customers, the aspirations of amenities for the people and also in expediting the project works," he said.

"Since our proposal of creating three more Divisions to unify Odisha under one Zone of East Coast Railway is pending with the Ministry of Railways since last three years, I would like to reiterate that the same be considered before considering creation of any new Zone," he urged.