Cuttack, Sept. 14: Orissa Consumers’ Association has sought judicial intervention into “inordinate delay” in doubling of railway track between Cuttack and Barang, which is essential for movement of all passenger trains via the Millennium City.

The OCA, along with a former member of Divisional Railway Users’ Consultative Committee, has alleged before Orissa High Court that the delay is causing “harassment” and “suffering” for the “travelling public”.

As the railway link between Cuttack and Barang is restricted to a single line, there is congestion of rail traffic between Bhubaneswar and Cuttack. As a result, several passenger trains are being diverted from Barang towards Naraj.

This is the second PIL to be filed in Orissa High Court in less than four months alleging “inordinate delay” in completion of work related to doubling of railway line between Cuttack and Barang, which includes construction of railway road bed works, track works and bridges.

OCA’s assistant secretary Arun Kumar Sahu and D.K. Mohapatra (former member of Divisional Railway Users’ Consultative Committee) have alleged that “the inordinate delay in completion of works related to doubling of the railway track has resulted in cost escalation of the project”.

Acting on it, the two-judge bench of chief justice V. Gopala Gowda and Justice B.N. Mohapatra issued notices to the secretary of the ministry of railways, the chairman of Rail Vikas Nigam Limited and the general manager of East Coast Railways on Monday asking them to file their replies within two weeks.

The petitioners said though more than five years have passed, construction work for the railway track had progressed at a “snail’s speed”.

“Rail Vikas Nigam’s failure to monitor execution of the work is resulting in blockage of more than Rs 300 crores which has been allocated for the project. Besides, undue delay in construction has frustrated the object and purpose of the doubling of railway track,” the PIL contends.

Earlier, Ramakanta Mishra, a resident of Cuttack, had filed a PIL on construction of the second railway over bridge on Kathajodi river which had been delayed by nearly five years. The petition is pending before the high court.

According to the petitions, the East Coast Railways had already developed five platforms for passengers and two for goods at the Cuttack railway station to accommodate plying of all passenger trains. But, because of non-completion of the bridge over Kathajodi, passenger trains were being diverted from Barang causing hardship for commuters of Cuttack and people of other areas as well.