Cuttack, May 11: A PIL has been filed in Orissa High Court seeking intervention against non-completion of the second railway overbridge on Kathajodi river in Cuttack, work for which had started six years ago.

The PIL has contended that several passenger trains were being diverted from Barang through Naraj to Jajpur Road or towards Dhenkanal instead of passing through Cuttack only because of non-completion of the railway overbridge.

Ramakanta Mishra (65), a resident of Cuttack city, said on the basis of the demand of local people and a departmental report, chairman of the Railway Board had given concurrence for the second overbridge over Kathajodi to connect Cuttack to Balikuda and Balikuda to Barang, in 2003-04. Construction work, subsequently, started with a two-year deadline for completion of the project.

More than six years have elapsed since the start of the construction of the overbridge, but it is yet to be completed.

The PIL has sought direction to the general manager, East Coast Railways, to complete the second railway overbridge over Kathajodi river ‘within a stipulated period’.

Completion of the second overbridge would ease rail traffic between Cuttack and Bhubaneswar, the petition said.

The court is yet to list the petition for hearing.

To accommodate plying of all passenger trains, the East Coast Railways had already developed five passenger platforms and two goods platforms at the Cuttack railway station.

However, the non-completion of the second bridge over Kathajodi, passenger trains were being diverted from Barang, causing hardship for commuters of both Cuttack and other parts of the state.

Intercity trains running on Bhubaneswar-Rourkela and Bhubaneswar-Sambalpur routes do not touch Cuttack railway station. As a result, passengers have to use either Dhenkanal or Bhubaneswar stations to reach Cuttack.

Other trains that do not run through Cuttack railway station because of the absence of a second bridge over Kathajodi river include Kharagpur-Bhubaneswar Fast Passenger, Bhubaneswar-Nizamuddin Express, Howrah -Kanyakumari Express, Tiruchinapalli-Howrah Express, Chennai-Guwahati Express, Chennai-Dibrugarh Express and Vishakhapatnam-Nizamuddin Express.