Inaugurated four years ago, the project to lay a railway line connecting Prime Minister A.B. Vajpayee’s native village Bateshwar with Agra has barely moved from where it began. The Rs 217 crore project, that was inaugurated in 1999 when Vajpayee visited his village, has hardly reached the initial stage of soil preparation, that too, on just 18 km of the 114 km-long railway line. Allegations are also being made that the quality of material being used is extremely inferior, with the railway line being laid on a foundation of sandy soil. The project, when completed, will connect five block stations between Agra and Etawah. Local Railway officials, when contacted, refused to comment. Sources, however, said the project is being considered commercially non-viable due to the delay in land acquisition and the mounting per km cost of laying a new railway line. Meanwhile, the farmers, whose land has been acquired by the Railways are protesting against the low compensation provided to them. Sources said that while the Railways is capable of completing the project in five years, it would require acquisition of all the land falling in the railway line’s path before the project’s second phase starts. Tired of waiting for the railway line to materialise, villagers have now decided to seek Vajpayee’s intervention in the matter.
