Driving Naari Programme launched in Chandigarh
Guwahati, The Centre aims to complete 34 various ongoing projects of Indian Railways in the northeast over the next 5-6 years that will entail an additional investment of around Rs 35,000 crore.
“My focus is to complete the ongoing projects and not to announce any new one. We have 34 different projects going on in the northeast with an estimated total cost of around Rs 54,000 crore,” Railways Minister Sadananda Gowda said today.
“The remaining work of the projects will be completed in the next 5-6 years and funds will be allotted in coming years,” he added.
According to Northeast Frontier Railway about Rs 20,000 crore have already been spent for these projects as on March 31, 2014.
He said the Indian Railways has been under fund crunch and could spend for either completing existing projects or implementing new ones.
The total ongoing projects of laying new tracks and gauge conversion is 4,517 km as on April 1 this year, of which only 1,889 km have been commissioned.
Gowda said the Railway Budget for 2014-15 has allotted Rs 5,400 crore for carrying out the ongoing projects and it was 54 per cent higher than the previous year.
“Our target is to complete construction of 450 km this year compared to 310 km in last year,” he said.
“In the next five years, all the state capitals in the northeast will have rail connections,” he said adding acquisition is on to restart rail link between Agartala and Akhaura in Bangladesh.
Gowda said the official inauguration of Naharlagun-Harmuti and Dudhnoi-Mendipathar railway lines would be done soon and he would request Prime Minister Narendra Modi to do so. Gowda said seven new trains would be introduced in the northeast region as per budget announcements.
Besides, work on the ambitious Bogibeel rail-cum-road bridge over Brahmaputra river in Dibrugarh is on schedule and will be commissioned by June 2017.
Gowda said due to ban in coal mining in Meghalaya, Railways will lose Rs 50 crore of revenue annually. An estimated Rs 100 crore revenue would be lost due to mega blocks gauge during conversion of Lumding-Badarpur-Silchar and Badarpur-Agartala routes.
“Within the next six months, gauge conversion work will be completed,” he said.
On the security scenario in Railways sector, the central minister said it was an area of concern and all states should look into it. “I have discussed security issue with my officials and they assured that it will be taken care of,” he added.
