Bhubaneswar: Raising concern over the Centre’s decision to delink the Waltair Division from the East Coast Railway (ECoR) zone, former President of the Odisha Pradesh Congress (OPCC) Niranjan Patnaik demanded establishment of a Loco shed at Rayagada.

In a letter to Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, Patnaik stated the reorganised East Coast Railway zone should have the loco shed at Rayagada to compensate the loss of Waltair.

Presenting his demand for administrative restructuring of the revamped ECoR, Patnaik stated in the letter there should be two more divisions – one at Baripada and another at Rourkela – to manage both the existing lines and the routes in pipeline.

Patnaik cited in the letter that as of now, important commercial centres like Belpahar, Brajarajnagar are with the South East Central Railway whereas important stations like Jharsuguda, Rourkela, Bondomunda, Barbil, Balasore, Baripada continue to remain with the South Eastern Railway division. 

He stated, “It is absolutely necessary that all railway lines in Balasore, Bhadrak, Mayurbhanj, Sundargarh, Deogarh, Jharsuguda and Keonjhar are brought under the East Coast Railway.”

“Such a reorgansiation would address the issue of loss of infrastructure facility at Waltair by having almost similar facility at Bondomunda and, would to some extent even address the issue of revenue loss,” it read.

The Waltair Division provided critical infrastructure support for operational efficiency of EcoR. Its loco sheds - diesel and electric - and other facilities made EcoR perform well. 

Patnaik’s letter mentioned the shift of the Waltair Division from ECoR would have deleterious effect on the operational viability of the railway zone.

The Centre recently announced its decision on shifting of the Waltair Division from EcoR to the South Coast Railway.

On Sunday, Opposition BJD also raised concerns over the Centre’s deicison to delink the Waltair division from ECoR. The party stated the unilateral decision would result in severe economic repercussions for Odisha.