Bhubaneswar, Dec 11 (IANS): The Odisha Assembly on Wednesday witnessed a heated exchange of words between the ruling BJP and the opposition BJD over the probable split of Waltair Division from the East Coast Railway (ECoR).

Senior BJD leader Ranendra Pratap Swain, while speaking during the Zero Hour, raised the issue in the House, saying that there is a conspiracy being hatched to merge the Waltair Division of ECoR with the new South Coast Railway (SCoR) zone.

He alleged that the state will suffer a loss of around Rs 20,000 crore following the split of the Waltair Division from ECoR. Swain further stated that the party will not tolerate the conspiracy hatched against the interests of Odisha.

Speaking to mediapersons, BJD leader Goutam Buddha Das alleged that the decision to shift Waltair Division to South Coast Railway (SCoR) zone had been taken to "please" Andhra Pradesh. He alleged that the Central government was neglecting Odisha.

He stated that five Odisha districts - Keonjhar, Mayurbhanj, Jharsuguda, Sundargarh- coming under the Chakradharpur division and Balasore district under the Kharagpur railway division of South Eastern Railway (SER) zone.

He said the central government should merge parts of these districts of Odisha currently under the SER zone with the ECoR if it is shifting Waltair division from Odisha.

Speaking on the allegations raised by opposition leaders, Deputy Chief Minister KV Singh Deo said that not an inch of railway line in Odisha will be moved to any other state.

Speaking on the issue outside the house, Singh Deo on Wednesday said, “the MPs from Odisha recently met Union Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw who clarified that there are three divisions under ECoR in Odisha. With the sanctioning of Rayagada as a new division, not an inch of the railway line of Odisha will be moved outside.”

Referring to the Union Railway minister’s clarification, Singh Deo further added that over Rs 73,000 crore has been sanctioned by the Central government for the development of Railways in Odisha.

A tender of Rs 107 crore has been floated for the sanctioned new Rayagada Railway division so the ECoR will continue to have three divisions.

He also noted that the highest revenue generating Kothavalasa–Kirandul rail line including regions from Chhattisgarh and Andhra Pradesh will be shifted to Rayagada division ensuring no loss of revenue to the ECoR.