Union railway minister blames Himachal govt for delay in two rail projects
In response to a question by MP Suresh Kumar Kashyap, the Union minister said the two new line projects falling fully/partly in Himachal Pradesh have been sanctioned on cost cost-sharing basis with the state government
Union Railway minister Ashwini Vaishnaw informed the Lok Sabha on Wednesday that two new rail line projects — Bhanupalli-Bilaspur-Beri (63.5 km) and Chandigarh-Baddi (30 km) — have been affected due to non-fulfilment of commitments by the Himachal Pradesh government as ₹1496.75 crore is outstanding with the state government.
In response to a question by MP Suresh Kumar Kashyap, the Union minister said the two new line projects falling fully/partly in Himachal Pradesh have been sanctioned on cost cost-sharing basis with the state government.
Vaishnaw said, “The support of the state government is required to expedite the projects. The total outstanding amount is ₹1,496.75 crore. Failure to make this contribution is likely to have a significant impact on these projects.”
In the Bhanupalli-Bilaspur-Beri (63.5 km) new line project, 79.57 hectares of land out of the total required 124.02-hectare land in Himachal Pradesh has been acquired. The work on available land has been taken up. So far, an expenditure of ₹5,205 crore has been incurred and ₹1,351 crore is outstanding with the state government.
The project has been stuck for over 20 years and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has been targeting the Congress government for delaying the project. Recently, the Himachal Pradesh government urged the Union government to declare the Bhanupali-Bilaspur-Beri-Leh railway line as the defence line project. The state government had maintained that the Bhanupalli-Bilaspur-Beri line should be declared a strategic defence project, as this line is to be extended to Leh.
As per the Union minister, the work of the Chandigarh- Baddi (30 km) new rail line project has been taken up at a cost of ₹727 crore to be shared by the state government and the Indian Railways for which, the former has so far released ₹217.75 crore while ₹145.75 is outstanding with the state government.
Responding to a question about connecting Paonta Sahib and Kala Amb of Sirmaur in Himachal Pradesh through the rail network, the Union railway minister said the survey for a new line between Jagadhari and Paonta Sahib (62 km) has been completed. Another survey from Ghanoli to Dehradun via Kala Amb and Paonta Sahib (216 Km) was carried out. However, projects could not be taken forward due to low traffic projections.
