RailEnquiry

Reacting to the tirade of the ruling Biju Janata Dal (BJD) members on alleged neglect and insufficient allocation meted out to Orissa in the Railway Budget for 2012-13, the state unit of the Congress clarified that the Centre has allocated Rs 2,434 crore to the East Coast Railway (ECoR).“Orissa has got the lion’s share of the total amount allotted to ECoR in the Budget. The state government needs to make proper use of the Centre’s allocation for development of infrastructure in the state and also expedite the process of land acquisition instead of blaming the Centre”, said senior Congress MLA and Opposition chief whip Prasad Harichandan at a press conference held within the state assembly's premises.He said that while Rs 327 crore has been allotted for doubling, Rs 14 crore has been allotted for new lines and Rs 72 crore has been earmarked for taking up rail projects in the state under the PPP (public private partnership) mode. Terming Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik’s reaction as illogical, Harichandan said barring the areas of Chattishgarh and Andhra Pradesh that falls under ECoR's jurisdiction, Orissa has got the major share of the funds allotted to the ECoR .