'New BG line will be completed on time'

PATNA: Railway minister Lalu Prasad on Friday held a high-level meeting with the Railway Board officials in New Delhi and took stock of the ongoing Hajipur-Sugauli new broad gauge (BG) line project. Lalu also held discussions with Union rural development minister Raghubansh Prasad Singh with regard to the matter. Lalu directed the railway officials concerned to expedite the new BG line project and sort out problems with the Bihar government. He himself spoke to the state chief secretary over phone from New Delhi on the issue of land acquisition for the project. The railway minister hoped that the 152-km-long Hajipur-Sugauli new BG line project would be completed on time with the full cooperation from the state government. This new BG line project involves 48 villages under the East Champaran district and 53 villages in the Muzaffarpur district. The total area required for land acquisition measures up to about 1,554 acres. Railway officials have been holding meeting with the DMs of these two districts on a regular basis to complete the first phase of the land acquisition work. The completion of this project will complete the entire Buddhist circuit as envisaged earlier by the railways. The Buddhist circuit covers Kushinagar and Sarnath in UP and Gaya, Rajgir, Nalanda, Patna, Hajipur, Vaishali, Kesaria, Areraj and Sugauli in Bihar. Meanwhile, the railway minister has directed the ECR officials to complete all the ongoing railway projects on a priority basis.