Mamata's rail budget disappointing: Dhumal

Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal Friday said that it was not fair on the part of the central government to ignore the interests of the people of the hill state in the railway budget.

"It's unfortunate on the part of the central government to ignore the interests of the hill state in the railway budget," he said in an official statement.

Railways Minister Mamata Banerjee unveiled the rail budget in the Lok Sabha Friday.

"We have requested the central government to initiate steps for the expansion and inclusion of Bhanupalli-Bilaspur-Beri, Ghanauli-Baddi, Nangal-Talwara and Bilaspur-Manali-Leh rail lines.

"The construction of the Bhanupalli-Bilaspur-Beri rail line was announced in the budget for 2008-09. The estimated cost of the line was Rs.1,046 crore (Rs.10.46 billion) and the railways had approved of Rs.350.33 crore (Rs.3.5 billion) for this. Now, sufficient funds are required so that work on the project starts quickly," he said.

Regarding the construction of the Chandigarh-Baddi broad-gauge rail line, Dhumal said the project was sanctioned in 2007-08 budget but Chandigarh has expressed its reservations in providing land for this purpose. "Now to connect the industrial area of Baddi in Himachal Pradesh, the railways has given an alternative proposal to provide a link for it from Ropar district in Punjab. For this, sufficient funds are required."

Himachal Pradesh is also pursuing the construction of 460 km Bilaspur-Manali-Leh rail line that would provide an all-weather connectivity to tribal areas of both Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir, that otherwise remain cut off for over eight months a year.

"The Bilaspur-Manali-Leh line would play an important role for the movement of armed personnel, equipment and essential commodities to border areas that are close to Pakistan and China," the chief minister said.

Last updated on Jul 3^rd, 2009 at 19:54 pm IST--IANS