Naveen reacts to railway budget soberly

Odisha Channel Bureau Bhubaneswar, July 8: Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Tuesday reacted soberly to the railway budget even as opposition parties including Congress criticised the budget saying it had nothing special for the State.“Odisha had requested for projects worth Rs.3160 crores and I understand that budget worth Rs.1420 crores is being sanctioned for Odisha,” Patnaik said in his reaction.“You all know that the State Government has agreed to provide 50 per cent of cost of construction and land free of cost for Bolangir Khurda project.An amount of Rs.100 crores has been kept in the railway budget for the same,” Patnaik said.Without using a single word of criticism about the railway budget in his official reaction, Patnaik, however, expressed concern over the proposal for creation of a new zone for Seemandhra.“We have a serious concern about creation of new zone for Seemandhra by bifurcating Visakhapatnam.We have raised serious objections to this and I hope Ministry of Railway will consider out just request to protect the interest of backward regions of Odisha,” he said.As regards the proposal for linking the railway fare with fuel price, Patnaik expressed apprehension that “this will affect the common man and expose them to vagaries of fluctuations in fuel price.I hope railways will address this concern in right earnest.”According to the proposals in the railway budget, the new trains for Odisha include Paradip-Visakhapatnam Express (weekly), Pardip-Howrah Express (weekly), Hatia-Rourkela passenger, and Sambalpur-Rourkela DMU six days a week.Besides, the proposals include extension of Howrah-Belda train up to Jaleswar, completion of Jharsuguda-Sabdega rail link for coal movement and rail connectivity to proposed port at Astarang.