Union minister gave no timeline for Chandigarh railway station revamp, says Manish Tewari

MP and former Union Minister Manish Tewari has expressed displeasure over the reply given by the Railways Minister to his question on the redevelopment of Chandigarh railway station in Parliament on Wednesday.

“It is unfortunate…rather than recognising the utter chaos, anarchy and mayhem that prevails at the railway station, the answer gives no timeline about when the renovation will finally be over,” Tewari told The Tribune over the phone while commenting on the reply.

The senior Congress parliamentarian said the answer provided no details on how the parking mess at the railway station would be resolved. “In all, the answer betrays the total inefficiency of the Railway Ministry,” Tewari added.

Replying to his unstarred question, Railways Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw informed the Lok Sabha that the Chandigarh railway station was identified for development under Amrit Bharat Station Scheme and redevelopment work had been sanctioned at an estimated cost of Rs 436.29 crore.

He said the redevelopment work had progressed well and the structural works for the station building on the Panchkula and Chandigarh sides had been completed. The work on air concourse, foot overbridge, parking lot, platform upgrade, including installation of shelters, and finishing of station building had been taken up. “The station redevelopment works are being taken up with minimum effect on the station operation,” the minister claimed.

Vaishnaw disclosed that so far, 1,337 stations have been identified for development under Amrit Bharat Station Scheme.

“The Chandigarh railway station falls under the jurisdiction of Northern Railway for which a total allocation of Rs 2,216 crore (budget estimate) has been made for the fiscal 2025-26 under Plan Head-53,” he revealed.

On the steps taken to improve sanitation, passenger facilities and crowd management at the station during and after the redevelopment process, the Railways Minister said cleanliness was a continuous process and every endeavour was made to properly maintain the station premises. Hygiene was ensured at all passenger facilities such as platforms, waiting rooms, toilets and bathrooms. “Frequent inspections by the officials concerned are being conducted at the railway station to ensure cleanliness,” he fruther mentioned.

Vaishnaw also gave details of the measures put in place like queue-management system and deployment of RPF staff to regulate rush at platforms and to prevent any untoward incident.

“Indian Railways has a well-established mechanism to monitor implementation of projects, including their reviews, inspections, feedbacks, checks for quality of works and audits,” the Minister said, while adding that works were carried out adhering to the standards and specifications laid down in various codes and manuals.