Naveen asks PM to tackle maoism through rail network expansion

Bhubaneswar, Jan 5 2011 (PTI) Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik today alleged that several railway projects announced for Orissa in the budget were not carried out and sought Prime Minister Manmohan Singh''s intervention in their execution, saying it can check Maoist menace in the region.

"It is a matter of concern that many projects and initiatives those were announced by the Ministry of Railways in previous year budget have failed to make a substantive headway," Patnaik said in a letter to the Prime Minister.

Orissa was emerging as a mining and metal hub of the country with substantive addition of energy generation capacity, Patnaik said, adding, the nature of industrial activities here required robust and well-planned rail infrastructure for stability.

Almost 70 per cent of Orissa''s interior were either untouched or negligibly touched by the rail network, he said.

"These areas (interior) are seriously affected by left wing extremism and require well planned intervention to counter the same," Patnaik said in the letter.

Stating that he was hopeful about expansion of rail network to the affected region is one of the best means to speed up the pace of development and break the shackles of isolation and backwardness.

He demanded that the Bhadrachalam Road-Talcher railway line and Sambalpur-Brahmpur new rail link (via Phulbani) be tagged as national project.

"Survey of these lines have been sanctioned and I would like you to advise the ministry of railways to execute these projects on priority basis," Patnaik said in the letter.