Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on Tuesday slammed former Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, dismissing the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) chief’s recent statement on Shakur Basti slums as “factually incorrect”.
“Just two-three days ago, Arvind Kejriwal ji had gone to Shakur Basti and said that Railways has tendered these slums, but I make it clear that he had told a lie,” the Railway Minister said while addressing a press conference at the BJP headquarters here.”There is vacant land near Shakur Basti, which is being developed for the station,” he asserted.
The Union Minister said during the Modi government, the railways budget for Delhi has been raised by 27 per cent in 10 years, from Rs 96 lakh crore to Rs 2,582 crore.
“During the UPA government, the budget allocation for Railways for Delhi was only Rs 96 lakh crore, whereas Rs 2,582 crore has been allocated in 2024-25,” the Railway Minister said.He said most of the stations in Delhi had become very old, out of which there are 13 important stations which are being re-developed.
“Safdarjung Station will be redeveloped as a G7-level station. The Bijwasan railway station will become a terminal for trains going towards western India. Hazrat Nizamuddin railway station, which is important for South-bound trains, is being redeveloped as a mega terminal,” he said.
Vaishnaw further said capacity of Anand Vihar railway station is being increased. He said a skywalk is being made there for railway integration with Metro and RRTS services. “Delhi Sarai Rohilla and Delhi Cantt are important stations for trains going towards Rajasthan,” the Union Minister said.
“Delhi is the capital of India, hence the number of travelers coming and going here is very high. Therefore, master planning is being made to increase the capacity of this city. So that there will be no congestion in Delhi for the next 20-30 years,” he said.