Lalu unlikely to say today: 296 projects are pending

When Lalu Prasad Yadav unveils his Rail Budget tomorrow, there’s one detail he is not likely to mention:

When Lalu Prasad Yadav unveils his Rail Budget tomorrow, there’s one detail he is not likely to mention: as many as 296 railway projects are pending, waiting for another Rs 61,487 crore to near completion.

Of the pending works, 93 are new line projects, 55 are gauge conversion projects while 125 are doubling projects. Bihar and UP top the list of most pending projects with 43 and 44 projects respectively.

The oldest pending project goes back as much as 34 years. Included in the Rail Budget in 1974-75, the

73.5 km-long Howrah-Amta railway line in West Bengal still has to cover a lot of ground to be near completion — constructed till date accounts for only 43 km.

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The Railway Ministry says the final location survey for the remaining section has been completed but the West Bengal government has not provided the required land.

“As per an MoU signed in 1973, the state government had to provide land free of cost. But now the West Bengal government wants Railways to bear the cost of land which is to the tune of Rs 100 crore,” a Railway official said.

But there are many other projects still stuck. Consider some of the these:

• Nangal Dam-Talwara and taking over siding of Mukerian Talwara: This 83.74-km link was included in the 1981-82 Budget. Final location survey for the section from Katrauli Punjab to Talwara (13.68 km) still in progress.

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• Eklakhi-Balurghat and Gazol-Itahar: Included in the 1984-85 Budget, the project was cleared in 2000-01. For the 26-km Gazol-Itahar line, only the final location survey has been done.

• Guna-Etawah: Sanctioned in 1985-86, this 344 km link still has to cover a 36 km stretch between Bhind and Etawah.

• Dahod-Indore & Dewas-Maksi: Included in the Rail Budget in 1989-90, the new line between Dahod and Indore was cleared by the government only in February 2007 and a final location survey was finally taken up.

Endorsing a report prepared by the Comptroller and Auditor General, the Public Accounts Committee of Parliament recently stated that considering the present rate of funding, the Railways would require another 38 years to complete pending new line projects and another 15 years to complete the pending gauge conversion projects.