Railways gets funding for old projects, new demands ignored

CHANDIGARH: It was a disappointing interim railway budget for the residents of Chandigarh, who had to be satisfied with announcements of budget allocation for old projects, which were hanging fire for more than eight years now.

Union railway minister Piyush Goyal said that additional funds were allocated to four pending projects in the budget, which includes Chandigarh-Baddi railway line, Yamunanagar-Chandigarh via Sadhaura Narayangarh line, a railway staff quarters and development of multifunctional complex at Chandigarh station.

According to Railways records, a dedicated line to Baddi was a long-pending demand of the industrialists of the area. The rail connectivity would benefit more than 4,000 industrialists and would also solve the problem of traffic congestion on Pinjore and Baddi road. At present, more than 500 containers go to Baddi by road every month.

Former Union railway minister Pawan Kumar Bansal announced the line connecting Yamunanagar to Chandigarh, via Sadhaura Narayangarh, in 2013. Every year, the railway minister would include it in the Budget, but work is yet to be commenced.

Fund is allocated for building staff quarters of three types — 50 flats for type 2, 45 of type 3 and 10 units for type 4. Fund is also allocated for the multifunctional complex, which was first announced in 2012 Budget.