‘Himachal in reverse gear’
Himachal Pradesh BJP president Rajeev Bindal had been the health minister in the party-led government from 2007 to 2012.
Indian Railways would undertake four projects for the expansion of the rail network in Himachal Pradesh.
This was informed by Union Minister of State for Railways Rajen Gohain in the Lok Sabha on a query by Member of Parliament from Shimla Virender Kashyap.
He said that Indian Railways has taken up 63.1 km long Bhanupalli-Bilaspur-Beri railway line at an estimated cost of Rs 6769 crore, 50 km long Una-Hamirpur railway line at a cost of Rs 3044.10 crore, 33.23 km long Chandigarh-Baddi railway line at a cost of Rs 1540 crore, and 112.9 km long Nangal Dam-Talwara railway line at a cost of Rs 2528.49 crore for the expansion of railway network in the state.
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He said that Una-Hamirpur railway line expansion project has been included in the budget.
Gohain told Kashyap in the Lok Sabha that the Indian Railways has carried two surveys to connect famous Sikh religious place Paonta Sahib with the railway network.
The survey for new BG line from Ghanoli to Dehradun via Baddi, Nalgarh, Jagadhari, Surajpur, Kala Amb, and Paonta Sahib (216 km) was completed in the year 2011.
As per the survey report, the cost of the proposed new BG line was assessed as Rs 3746 crore with ROR (Rate of Return) of -0.40 per cent. The project could not be taken forward due to low ROR, poor traffic, and financial projections.
He further stated that one more survey from Pehowa to Paonta Sahib via Jagadhri, Yamuna Nagar was completed in the year 2013-14.
As per the survey report, the cost of 145 km project is Rs 1954 crore with -3.90 per cent ROR. The survey report has been taken up by railway authorities for viability to set up new railway line to connect famous Sikh religious place.
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