Lok Sabha Question No. 2920 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2023-12-20
Subject: Railway Projects in Bolangir Constituency
Ministry: RAILWAYS
Asked by: Sangeeta Kumari Singh Deo

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2920 TO BE ANSWERED ON 20.12.2023

## RAILWAY PROJECTS IN BOLANGIR CONSTITUENCY

## 2920.    SHRIMATI SANGEETA KUMARI SINGH DEO:

Will the Minister of RAILWAYS be pleased to state:

- (a) the details of railway stations in the Bolangir Parliamentary Constituency;
- (b) the details of railway projects/works planned, ongoing and pending in the said constituency;
- (c) whether  the  Government  has  any  plans  for  development  of  these railway  stations  with  modern  infrastructure  and  if  so,  the  details thereof;
- (d) whether the Government has any plans to augment the rail network/connectivity/infrastructure and train services in the said constituency; and
- (e) if so, the steps being taken by the Government in this regard?

## ANSWER

MINISTER OF RAILWAYS, COMMUNICATIONS AND ELECTRONICS & INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

(SHRI ASHWINI VAISHNAW)

- (a) to (e): A Statement is laid on the Table of the House.

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STATEMENT  REFERRED  TO  IN  REPLY  TO  PARTS  (a)  TO  (e)  OF  UNSTARRED QUESTION  NO.  2920  BY  SHRIMATI  SANGEETA  KUMARI  SINGH  DEO  TO  BE ANSWERED IN LOK SABHA ON 20.12.2023 REGARDING RAILWAY PROJECTS IN BOLANGIR CONSTITUENCY.

(a)  to  (e)  :  The  Railway  projects  are  sanctioned/executed  Zonal  Railway  wise and not State/District/Parliamentary Constituency wise as the Railways' projects may span across State/District/Parliamentary constituencies boundaries. As on 01.04.2023, 35 Projects (12 New lines, 01 Gauge Conversion and  22  Doubling)  of  total  length  of  4,257  km,  costing  ₹52,189  crore,  falling fully/partly in the state of Odisha are in planning/approval/construction stage.

Railway Projects in Odisha are covered under East Coast Railway, South Eastern Railway and South East Central Railway zones of Indian Railway. Zonal Railway wise details of Railway projects including cost, expenditure and outlay are made available in public domain on Indian Railway website.

Since  2014,  there  has  been  substantial  increase  in  fund  allocation  for safety and infrastructure works and commensurate commissioning of Projects falling fully/partly in the State of Odisha.

## Budget Allocation:

| Period   | Budget Outlay   | Increase w.r.t avg. annual allocation of 2009-14   |
|----------|-----------------|----------------------------------------------------|
| 2009-14  | ₹838 Cr./Yr     | -                                                  |
| 2023-24  | ₹10012 Cr.      | Approx. 12 times                                   |

## Commissioning:

| Period   | Total length commissioned (in km)   | Average km/year   | Increase in commissioning since 2009-14   |
|----------|-------------------------------------|-------------------|-------------------------------------------|
| 2009-14  | 267 km                              | 53.40 km          | -                                         |
| 2014-23  | 1583 km                             | 175.90 km         | More than 3 times                         |

Completion of Railway project/s depends on various factors like quick land acquisition by State Government,  forest  clearance  by officials of forest department,  shifting  of  infringing  utilities,  statutory  clearances  from  various authorities,  etc.  and  all  these  factors  affect  the  completion  time  of  the project/s.

Ministry of Railways has launched 'Amrit Bharat Station Scheme' for development  of Railway stations on Indian Railways.  This  scheme envisages development of stations on a continuous basis with a long-term approach.  So far, 1309 Railway Stations have been identified over Indian Railways  under  this  scheme.  In  all,  57  stations  in  the  State  of  Odisha including 04 numbers of stations viz. Balangir, Harishankar Road, Kantabanji and Titlagarh Jn. have been identified for development under the Amrit Bharat Station Scheme.

The scheme involves preparation of Master Plans and their implementation  in  phases  to  improve  the  amenities  at  the  stations  like improvement  of  station  access,  circulating  areas,  waiting  halls,  toilets, lift/escalators  as  necessary,  cleanliness,  free  Wi-Fi,  kiosks  for  local products through schemes like 'One Station One Product', better passenger information systems, Executive Lounges, nominated spaces for business  meetings, landscaping  etc.,  keeping  in  view  the  necessity  and requirement at each station.

The scheme also envisages improvement of building, integrating the station with both sides of the city, multimodal integration, amenities for Divyangjans, sustainable and environment friendly solutions, provision of ballastless tracks, 'Roof Plazas' as per necessity, phasing and feasibility and creation of city centres at the station in the long term.

As the Railway network straddles across constituency boundaries, trains are introduced, as per network requirement, across such boundaries. However, augmentation  of  train  services  on  Indian  Railways  is  an  on-going  process subject to traffic justification, operational feasibility, availability of resources, etc. Accordingly, 18311/18312 Sambalpur - Banaras Express has been extended upto Visakhapatnam, w.e.f. 22.11.2023, with scheduled stoppages at Titlagarh &  Balangir  stations  of  Balangir  Constituency.  Besides  22861/22862  HowrahKantabanji  Express  has  also  been  introduced,  w.e.f  .  16.08.2022,  to  improve connectivity in this area.

Various steps has been taken by the Government for effective and speedy implementation of rail projects include (i) setting up of Gati Shakti Directorate in  the  Ministry  and  Gati  Shakti  unit  in  field  (ii)  prioritisation  of  projects  (iii) substantial increase in allocation of funds (iv) delegation of powers at field level (v) close monitoring of progress of project at various levels (vi) regular follow up with State Governments  and  concerned  authorities for expeditious land acquisition,  forestry  and  Wildlife  clearances  and  for  resolving  other  issues pertaining to projects.

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