CM seeks more funds for railway projects

By Our Special Correspondent

CHENNAI, DEC. 26. The Chief Minister, Mr. M. Karunanidhi, has urged the Railway Minister, Ms. Mamata Banerjee, to allocate sufficient funds for various on-going railway projects in the State in the next railway budget.

The Chief Minister in a letter to the Railway Minister said that in the current year none of the major projects in the State could be completed or significant progress achieved owing to low allotment of funds.

He referred to the State's financial support to some of the projects like MRTS Phase II and Tambaram - Beach suburban gauge conversion. While the Government is sharing two third cost of the MRTS project, it is meeting 50 per cent of the suburban conversion.

On the MRTS Phase II project between Tirumailai and Taramani, the Chief Minister said though the project was progressing as per schedule, it would be possible to complete the work as planned by the middle of 2002 only if sufficient funds were sanctioned. He wanted the Ministry to allot at least Rs. 100 crores for the project from the railway side to enable Tamil Nadu to sanction a matching grant.

Stressing the need for line quadrupling between Pattabiram and Arakkonam, he said the Chennai-Arakkonam section is fast developing, which needs dedicated lines for EMU services. Along with this, he said, a new line may be laid from Avadi to Sriperumbuthur, where many automobile units have come up.

These two additions will help develop industrial infrastructure in the area. Similarly the Villupuram-Thanjavur mainline gauge conversion project though included in the railway budget two years back, it is yet to be cleared by the Cabinet Committee for Economic Affairs (CCEA).

This section serves a thickly populated area known as the rice bowl of Tamil Nadu. The present metre gauge services on the section hardly adequate to meet the growing traffic.

Other sections adjoining this project like Villupuram - Katpadi and Tiruchi- Manamadurai sections have already been cleared by the CCEA for gauge conversion. If clearance is not given to Villupuram-Thanjavur section then it is likely to be left out as an isolated metre gauge line. It is therefore essential that the clearance is pursued for this project for early conversion.

The Chief Minister hoped that the Union Minister would take into consideration these factors while allocating funds for various projects in the next financial year.

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Section  : Southern States
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