It seems Railway Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav’s dream of laying a railway line connecting his native village with that of his wife, Rabri Devi, has fallen prey to his differences with Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar.With the Nitish Kumar-led Bihar Government taking its time to acquire and hand over pockets of land required to connect the 20.9-km stretch between Hathua and Bathua Bazar on the Hathua-Bhatni section of North Eastern Railway (NER), Lalu’s dream plan will have to wait for some more time.If Lalu had his way, the Rs 60-crore link, powered with all the sanctions from the Railway Ministry, would have been inaugurated by last year, connecting Phulwaria with Rabri’s native village, Salar Kalan, a mere 2.9 km away.Starting from Hathua, the proposed link is planned to touch Lain Bazar, Salar Khurd and Phulwaria before reaching Bathua Bazar, all in Gopalganj district. However, despite being one of the “top priorities” for the Railways, NER is struggling to complete the project even a year later. During a recent conference of General Managers of Zonal Railways held at Rail Bhavan, senior NER officials apologetically informed the minister that work on Hathua-Bathua Bazar was not progressing well due to non-availability of land. NER’s General Manager said that Railways has almost completed work in areas where land plots have been provided. However, these areas cannot be linked in the absence of possession of land falling in between.“On the Hathua-Bathua Bazar section, plots falling under eight villages have still not been handed over to the Railways. On an average, Railways require 700-800 meters of land from villages falling on the route,” a senior NER official told The Indian Express, requesting anonymity. “We have got some plots, but the pace is very slow and acquiring land in bits and pieces is not helping much,” the official said.Bihar Government officials, however, deny allegations suggesting deliberate delay on their part. “Out of the 26 proposals for land acquisition in Phase I, we have cleared 20 and possession for 131.37 acres has already been ordered. Estimates are being made for the remaining 70-odd acres required for the project,” said Secretary (Land & Revenue) B B Srivastava. Adding that the Bihar Government has received 57 more proposals for 498 acres of land in the second phase, Srivastava said, “We are working on all those proposals. Hopefully, there should not be any problem.”Srivastava also refuted Railway Ministry’s suggestions of deliberate laxity in dealing with this project. “The delay may have taken place due to the flood situation in the recent months. A meeting will be held every month to sort out these issues. We have also tried to simplify the land acquisition process by delegating authority at district levels,” he said.
