Wednesday, March 04, 2009

North Bihar all well set to become virtual hub of Indian Rlys


PATNA: Work on railway projects worth about Rs 55,000 crore given to Bihar by railway minister Lalu Prasad is in full swing now-a-days and most of
them are likely to be completed in two to three years. These projects, which have been approved by the Parliament, Planning Commission and Economic Advisory Committee, will be completed on priority basis and are likely to improve the socio-economic condition of the state. The major dream projects include wheel factory at Chhapra (Rs 1,000 crore), diesel engine factory at Marhaura in Saran (Rs 2,025 crore), electric engine factory at Madhepura (Rs 1,300 crore), goods wagon repair workshop at Sonepur (Rs 90 crore), DEMU maintenance depot at Sonepur (Rs 15 crore), wagon repair workshop at Samastipur (Rs 33 crore) and concrete sleeper factories at Madhepura, Sitamarhi and Chaksikandar (Rs 15 crore). According to an East Central Railway (ECR) official, most of these projects were slated to be completed by 2011-2012. However, the wheel factory where civil work is already going on, will be completed this year, he said. Fate of the much talked about diesel and electric engine factories at Marhaura and Madhepura seems to be bright now. Instead of launching these projects under private-public partnership, the railway ministry has now decided to launch them on its own. The railways have started the process to acquire land for these two ambitious projects. The railways require about 450 hectare land for the electric engine factory, an ECR official said. Work on other dream projects of Lalu like DEMU maintenance depot, wagon repair workshop and concrete sleeper factories is also going on though the progress has been a little bit tardy. The railways have taken measures to accelerate the pace of the work on these projects under direct supervision of the Railway Board, a board official said. That apart, the railway projects related to new broad gauge (BG) lines, conversion of tracks and passenger amenities has been top priority in the ECR. Several crores have been spent on them turning hundreds of railway stations into model stations of the Indian Railways. During Lalu's tenure, the rate of accident has come down considerably while safety of passengers has been accorded top priority, claimed a board official, adding north Bihar is all well set to become a virtual hub of the India Railways as barring coach manufacturing factory, all components and parts of the railways will be produced in Bihar in future to fulfil the requirements of the Indian Railways.

0 comments: