Bittu at helm, locals hope Patti-Makhu rail link will be reality

The proposed Patti-Makhu rail link to connect Amritsar and Ferozepur remains a distant dream. The people concerned ask, “Are the parties playing politics over the proposed rail link?”

The long-awaited 25.7 km Patti-Makhu rail link between Majha and Malwa regions of Punjab will open another route to connect the northern region of Jammu & Kashmir with western states like Gujarat and Maharashtra.

The commencement of the rail link will have a positive impact on commercial activities. In 2013, the then Union Railway Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal had approved the Ferozepur-Patti rail link, but the project remains a distant dream.

About 12 years after the approval of the ambitious project, there is still a long way to go for the project. The elevation of Ravneet Bittu, hailing from Punjab, as Union Minister of State for Railways, gave credence to the belief that Bittu will pay attention toward this pending railway project.

Naresh Vij, a wholesale textile trader, said, “The start of Ferozepur-Patti rail link will cut short the distance between Amritsar and Jaipur. “Trading exchanges require them to travel to Jaipur city. Whenever I go by train, then instead of direct connectivity, the train goes to Ludhiana first, then reaches Ferozepur via Jagraon and Moga, and it consumes a lot of time. The new rail route will cut down the duration by hours.”

“If this project starts, then traders of Jammu and Kashmir, Punjab, Haryana and even Rajasthan will prefer this route for trade purposes,” he said.

Palwinder Singh, a resident of Amritsar, said, “I travel to Mumbai and if this rail route starts in future, it will surely shorten the distance between Punjab and Mumbai.” Everyone knows the importance of the Ferozepur-Patti railway link but both the Union and state governments are not taking this project seriously. It was reported that previous Punjab governments had failed to acquire land for the railway link,” he said.

He said, from the commercial point of view, the rail link is anticipated to shorten the distance between Ferozepur and Amritsar from the present 118 km to 86 km. Similarly, the railway link would reduce the distance between Jammu and Mumbai by 267 km and from Amritsar to Mumbai by 240 km.

Even after the completion of the Social Impact Assessment (SIA) of the project in 2020 by Social Sciences Department of Guru Nanak Dev University, the project did not see further progress.

The study had found that around 230 households would be affected while 140 hectares would be required to lay nearly 25-km railway line. The people expressed fear of waterlogging, which according to the SIA, could be addressed by constructing enough water exit points.

The track would pass through 12 villages, including Kot Buddha, Safa Singh Wala, Kale Ke Uttar, Talwandi Sobha Singh, Talwandi Nastada Singh, Manak Ke Jand, Maan and Bangna Rai in Tarn Taran and Mallan Wala, Dullah Singh Wala, Quttubuddin Wala and Kale Ke Hithar in Ferozepur.

Prof Rajesh Kumar from the Social Sciences Department of GNDU, who carried out the study, said, “The project will herald social and economic transformation of around 2.5 lakh people, besides providing another line of transportation to defence forces along the International Border.”

The assessment of the land’s value would be carried out before announcing the award for land acquisition. After the proposed land is acquired and handed over to the Indian Railways, then the latter would proceed to lay the tracks and construct two overbridges on the route.