Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw announces key railway and IT projects in Mumbai | Photo Credits: Vijay Gohil
Mumbai: The railway ministry will carry out the doubling work of railway line from Gondia to Ballarshah at the cost of over Rs 4,800 crore. The total investment of railway ministry in Maharashtra has now crossed Rs 1.73 lakh crores.
On Friday, union railway minster Ashwini Vaishnav announced at a press conference in Mumbai that the recent cabinet meeting has sanctioned four railway projects worth Rs 18,658 crore with a length of 680 km for the development of Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh and Odisha. These projects also include the doubling of 240 km railway line between Gondia and Ballarshah in Vidarbha at the cost of Rs 4,819 crore.
The doubling project will establish a large corridor connecting North with the South of India and is aimed at benefitting travellers as well as improve economic activities in Vidarbha and Marathawada along with some parts of Telangana. The railway route will pass through major railway stations like Wadsa, Nagbhir and Chanda Fort and is expected to benefit Gondia, Bhandara, Gadchiroli and Chandrapur districts.
The railway ministry’s total ongoing projects in Maharashtra have increased to 47 projects worth Rs 1.58 lakh crore, including bullet train, dedicated freight corridor and railway station redevelopment projects. Additional major projects Include a new line between Ajanta, Jalgaon and Jalna worth Rs 7,106 crore, Manmad-Indore new line worth Rs 18,000 crore, fourth line between Manmad and Jalgaon worth Rs 2,700 crore as well as third and fourth line for Bhusawal-Khandwa worth Rs 3,500 crores.
Vaishnav took a dig against the former UPA government claiming that the ministry’s current investment in Maharashtra is more than 20 times compared to UPA. “UPA’s railway budget for Maharashtra was only Rs 1,171 crore. In the historical third term of prime minister Narendra Modi, multiple railway projects are being executed in Maharashtra. These projects are distributed across the state including Pune, Sambhajinagar and Nagpur,” he added.
IRCTC to come up with Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Circuit
Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation will launch a Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj and the Glorious Maratha tour train. This will be a specially curated 10-day journey aboard the Bharat Gaurav Tourist Train which will aim to showcase the rich heritage of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, as well as key cultural and pilgrimage sites across Maharashtra.
Rs 17,000 crore worth of railway projects in Mumbai Being Executed At Full Pace
The union minister said that various railway projects are being executed in Mumbai at high speed. These projects include Airoli-Kalwa elevated corridor, fifth and sixth line between Mumbai Central and Borivali, Borivali-Virar and CSMT-Kurla. Over 3,000km of additional lines are being developed to decongest existing lines, increasing service frequency and improving last-mile connectivity.
Efforts to reduce railway deaths
The railway ministry is working on reducing the number of deaths due to railway accidents through various means. It is planning to introduce more trains to provide space to 85 lakh travellers with better technologies like oxygen flow and effective door closing. The ministry is also working on implementing Kavach 5.0 and increase the frequency of trains by 30%.
New innovation to help Central suburban railway during rains
Vaishnav announced that the ministry has come up with new point machines which will work even when they are submerged in more than 1.5 feet water. The innovation is a result of two years of efforts and will be filed for patent. Additionally, 36 places have been identified on the central line where micro tunnelling will be carried out to make way for clogged water.
Redevelopment of railway stations
A total of 132 railway stations are being redeveloped as Amrit stations at the cost of Rs 5,587 crore. The redeveloped stations will have multilevel parking facilities, smooth traffic flow, divyang-friendly design, CCTVs, solar energy, water conservation and rainwater harvesting. These also include Mumbai’s suburban stations like CSMT, Marine Lines, Byculla, Parel, Chinchpokli, Matunga and Lower Parel among others.
MoU signed for the development of IICT
The railway ministry and state government signed a memorandum of understanding for the development of Indian Institute of Creative Technology (IICT) in Goregaon’s Film City. The union railway minister also announced that the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology will use its 240 acres of land in Malad to develop a creative space like studios for post-production.
Aim to bring the world’s film industry to Mumbai through WAVES
Chief minister Devendra Fadnavis said that the world’s film industries will come to Mumbai with the launch of World Audio Visual and Entertainment Summit. The first summit is set to be held in Mumbai’s Jio Convention Centre from May 1 to May 4. The one-of-a-kind summit will aim to turn Mumbai into the world’s creative economy capital. More than 100 nations are expected to participate in this summit.
