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THE GOAN NETWORK
MARGAO
Railways Minister Suresh Prabhu has claimed that the Railways will play a key role in the development of Goa. Going hand-in-hand with this approach, the Union Railway Minister also expressed his endeavour to make Goa the hub of growth through the implementation of various measures which he announced for the State as well as on an all-India basis.
Addressing a gathering after flagging off the Margao-Hazrat Nizamuddin Rajdhani Express as well as unveiling the escalator at the Margao railway station, the minister also touched upon Goa-specific demands, such as rail overbridges in the State as also a train to link Goa with the pilgrimage centre Tirupati.
Portraying an all-India picture, Prabhu said the railways have set a target of 7,000 to 8,000 road over bridges (ROBs) in the country. Of these, five have already been sanctioned for Goa, the minister informed. Regarding the sharing of cost of ROBs between the State and the Centre it will be addressed in a meet between the State and the railway ministry in New Delhi, Prabhu added.
Prabhu also promised to make sure Goa is linked to the pilgrimage centre of Tirupati.
He said Goa being a shareholder in the Konkan Railways, the latter has an obligation to fulfill Goa's demands. Prabhu said his ministry will ensure the implementation of these measures in few months to make Goa the hub of growth. “We get help from Goa government and we want to put Goa on a growth trajectory,” he told the audience.
Other measures include the commencement of work on doubling of KR tracks. This, Prabhu said, makes “economic sense” and will improve efficiency by which KR alone will end up saving Rs 100 crore annually. It includes the proposed all-India “dedicated freight corridor” at a cost of Rs 82,000 crore to be completed in three-and-half years, after which the freight traffic will be diverted through this dedicated corridor to make way for passenger trains. Referring to KR, Prabhu said while 60 trains run daily on the single track, the double tracking on which work has already commenced will be completed in about four-and-half years.
Prabhu also stressed on the new initiatives of his ministry, pertaining to addressing age-old technology to ensure safety, speed, customer satisfaction, transparency, increasing capacity of railways, all of which, he said, have been underscored in his Railway Budget.
Referring to funds, the minister claimed a sum of Rs 1.50 lakh crore has already been sourced from LIC to be repaid in 30 years. “The whole idea is to make railways a source of growth for the country,” he added, while pegging the planned investment in railways at the all-India level at Rs 6.50 lakh crore.
Speaking on this occasion, Chief Minister Laxmikant Parsekar requested the Union Railway Minister to expedite work on doubling KR tracks and treat the same as priority to enable a reduction of pressure on roads in the State, so as to help KR run more DMUs and EMU's on the State's KR tracks to facilitate intra-State travel.
He also made a plea for more stops for the newly launched Rajdhani Express in Goa sector “ on stations like Karmali, Thivim and Pernem.
Transport Minister Sudin Dhavlikar referred to projects in the pipeline such as six-laning of National highways, Zuari bridge, Nuvem-Dramapur bypass, Char Rasta (Canacona)-Polem road, missing link at Verna and the ROBs where work will commence shortly.
Rajya Sabha MP Shantaram Naik demanded that wi-fi and TV services be made available through important trains. He also wanted the Railways to examine the possibility of commencing Margao-Mumbai train via Miraj.
South Goa MP Narendra Sawaikar wanted Sanvordem to be made a model railway station as well as examine the need for ROBs.
Margao MLA Digambar Kamat called upon the Railways to commercially exploit the prime land belonging to Railways so as to facilitate the rehabilitation of those displaced by KR.
Those present for the function included Labour and Fisheries Minister Avertano Furtado, Fatorda MLA Vijai Sardesai, KRC MD Bhanu Tayal, KR Senior Manager (PR) BG Ghatge, senior KR officials and KR staff among others.
The Railways Minister later inaugurated the office of All India OBC Railway Employees Association in Margao KR premises.
