The decision to delink the profit-making Waltair division from the East Coast Railway (ECoR) and merge it with the South Coast Railway (SCoR) zone has sparked protests across Odisha.

Opposition parties allege the move is politically motivated to appease the N. Chandrababu Naidu-led government in Andhra Pradesh, which supports the Modi government at the Centre.

BJD MPs called on railway minister Ashwini Vaishnaw in New Delhi on Wednesday and demanded that the ministry of railway should refrain from making such a decision, hurting the interests of Odisha.

“He has been elected from Odisha to the Rajya Sabha twice, but he is neglecting the cause of Odisha. We have already raised the issue in the Odisha Assembly,” said senior BJD leader and former minister Ranendra Pratap Swain.

Congress leaders have staged a demonstration on the issue in front of the headquarters of the ECoR on Tuesday.

The agitation started after a tender floated for construction of a zonal building in Andhra Pradesh. The bone of contention is the famous KK (Kothavalasa -Kirandul) line, which gives the highest revenue to the ECoR. The 445km KK Line passes through the mineral-rich regions of Odisha, Chhattisgarh and Andhra Pradesh. If a major portion of the KK Line is transferred to SCoR, the ECoR is likely to face a significant revenue loss to the tune of ₹10,000 crore.

The EcoR had come into existence in April 2003 and is one of the 17 railway zones of the Indian Railways. It was made functional with three divisions at Khurda Road, Sambalpur and Waltair.

Former Union minister and senior Congress leader Srikant Jena told The Telegraph: “The move to merge the Waltair division with the SCoR Zone aims to appease the Naidu government. No one should forget that the formation of ECoR was made possible through the efforts of the United Front government under the leadership of Prime Minister H.D. Deve Gowda, railway minister Ram Vilas Paswan, parliamentary affairs minister Srikant Jena, and the then chief minister J.B. Patnaik, with the blessings of Biju (Patnaik) Babu.”

He said: “The ECoR has been a top revenue generator for Indian Railways since its inception, with the Waltair division contributing approximately 60% of its revenue. The division generated revenue of more than ₹20,000cr annually.”

Jena added: “A major portion of Waltair division is being merged with the Vijayawada Division under the South Coast Railway, and the remaining section is being integrated into the Rayagada Division under ECoR. I have already apprised the Odisha government including the deputy chief minister KV Singh Deo.”

“We demand that the Andhra portion of the Waltair division should be merged with the Rayagada division (Odisha) of the ECoR instead of Vijayawada division of ScoR,” he said.

Cutting across party lines, Odisha also demands a new division be created in North Odisha by integrating Baleswar, Mayurbhanj and Sundargarh districts from the South Eastern Railway (SER) to ECoR.