Railway Transfers Palasa-Ichchapuram Section Amid Odisha Protests

The Railway Board has transferred the Palasa-Ichchapuram rail section, a 50-kilometer stretch in Andhra Pradesh's Srikakulam district, from the East Coast Railway's Khurda Road division to the Visakhapatnam division of the newly formed South Coast Railway, prompting widespread opposition in Odisha earlier this week.

The decision, notified on April 2, involves seven stations—Palasa, Summadevi, Mandasa Road, Baruva, Sompeta, Jadupudi, and Ichchapuram—which had been administered under the East Coast Railway headquartered in Bhubaneswar since the zone's creation in 1996. Officials from both zones have been directed to implement the jurisdictional change, part of a broader administrative restructuring to define the South Coast Railway's boundaries. The move expands the Visakhapatnam-based zone's reach while reducing the East Coast Railway's territory.

Leaders across political lines in Odisha have condemned the transfer, arguing it undermines the state's interests and the East Coast Railway's status as one of India's highest revenue-generating zones. Ten opposition parties, including the Biju Janata Dal, Congress, Communist Party of India, and others, met in Bhubaneswar on Saturday...