Centre should build airports, railway tracks: Dy CM

Deputy Chief Minister Mukesh Agnihotri today said the Centre should construct airports and railway lines for Himachal Pradesh while responding to a question on the Bhanupali- Bilaspur railway track in the House today.

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“Himachal was not financially viable when it was made. We do not have a large tax base, so the Centre should consider building airports and railway tracks in the state,” said Agnihotri, adding that he had a narrow escape today when the plane he was travelling in did not stop at the scheduled spot at the “small Shimla airport”. “If the Centre can build airports in Bihar, why can’t it be done in Himachal?” Agnihotri asked.

Responding to the question raised by the BJP MLA Trilok Jamwal, Agnihotri said the Bhanupali-Bilaspur railway track will be completed by 2027. When BJP MLA Randhir Sharma pointed out that railway track is scheduled to go up to Beri beyond Bilaspur and the land was not being acquired for it, Agnihotri snapped why the MLA was worried about Adani, who has a cement factory near Beri. “If the railway track has to go up to Beri and any businessman is benefiting from it, he should also contribute in constructing the line,” he said.

The Deputy Chief Minister further said that the 63.1-km-long track would cost Rs 6,753 crore and Rs 5000 crore had already been spent on the project. “The state has given around Rs 850-900 crore for the project,” he said.

Asked why the government had shifted the money meant for the railway track to the state treasury from banks, Agnihotri said the money would be released to the departments as and when they need to make payments for the project. “Also, we are requesting Railways to put us in the category where Centre pays for the land acquisition,” he said.

Responding to the question by Kuldeep Rathore, MLA Theog, over the Kurpan water supply scheme, the Deputy Chief Minister said the project, which would cater to 54 panchayats having population over one lakh, would be completed by 2026. “An amount of Rs 321 crore will be spent on this project, out of which Rs 276 crore has already been spent. We only need to arrange Rs 45 crore needed more, which will be arranged,” he said.

Responding to the question by Hardeep Bawa, MLA Nalagarh, over the slow pace of the Pinjore-Baddi-Nalagarh National Highway expansion, Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu said the slow pace of work on this vital stretch was hampering the industrial growth. “We will discuss this with the NHAI and Union Minister Nitin Gadkari to expedite the process,” he said.