Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and Railway Minister Piyush Goyal at the inauguration of Parel Suburban Terminus in Mumbai on Sunday. (Left) A train service was also launched. (Ganesh Shirsekar)Fulfilling a long-standing demand, the Central Railway (CR) on Sunday inaugurated a new suburban terminus at Parel for local trains to decongest and reduce passenger traffic at Parel station.
“The demand for a suburban railway station at Parel had been pending for many years and a new terminus is being inaugurated after nearly 20 years,” Union Railway Minister Piyush Goyal said.
He said injustice has been done to the suburban railways so far. However, under the present government, works worth Rs 20,000 crore are underway while works worth Rs 55,000 crore have been approved under MUTP 3A, which will begin soon, he added. “Many routes have been planned as elevated corridors so that land does not become an issue,” he said.
Goyal also paid homage to the jawans from Maharashtra who died in the recent Pulwama terror attack. “They gave the supreme sacrifice for the country. Today, the country’s leadership is strong, the thoughts are full of determination and the decision-making capacity is strong that today if anybody dares us, we are ready to give a befitting reply. (Narendra) Modiji has proven this to us… Today even in Pakistan, people are starting to realise that if they don’t control terrorism then India will not let them be. The entire railway family is ready to make its contribution and stand shoulder to shoulder with the armed forces…,” he said.
Meanwhile, the MoU between the Railways Land Development Authority (RLDA) and Dharavi Redevelopment Authority was also signed for the Dharavi redevelopment project. The railways will lease 45 acres of land as part of the mega redevelopment project in Asia’s largest slum.
Speaking at the event, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said, “Whatever demands were made by us have all been accepted by Goyal. Some of the demands, we didn’t expect approvals but did receive sanctions for them as well. MUTP3 and MUTP 3A schemes have changed the picture of Mumbai. In the coming days, we are working to increase mobility through digital platform-single ticket.”
(abha.goradia@expressindia.com)
