Approval to acquire land for Ferozepur-Amritsar rail link

Anirudh Gupta

Ferozepur, March 5

Decks have been cleared for the Ferozepur-Amritsar rail link, following nod by the state government to acquire land for the project. The rail link has the potential to shorten the distance between the northern states, including Punjab, to trade capitals of Gujarat and Maharastra to a large extent.

The state government has approved Rs 40 crore for the acquisition of land in Ferozepur and Tarn Taran districts to lay the rail track, needed to revive this vital link between two border districts of Ferozepur and Amritsar.

Vivek Kumar, Divisional Railway Manager (Ferozepur Division), said though he had not received any official information on this, but once the land was made available, the Railways would start the work immediately.

Earlier, the rail link between Majha and Malwa was snapped at the time of partition when the province of Punjab was divided and some part of Ganda Singh Wala (now in Kasur) fell into the share of Pakistan, for which now an alternative broad-gauge link between Ferozepur and Patti needed to be constructed. Though the crucial rail link was given a ‘green signal’ in the 2013 rail budget, the matter remained hanging in abeyance due to the delay on part of state government to provide land.

Last year, Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh had himself written to the Railway Ministry to expedite the process of construction of the broad-gauge link between Gharyala on the Amritsar-Khemkaran line and Mallanwala on the Ferozepur-Jalandhar line. The matter had also been taken up by Rajya Sabha MP Shwet Malik, now state BJP chief, with the Railways on several occasions. Malik had even accused the “high-profile transport lobby” of trying to jeopardise the project due to their vested interests.

Social worker Ashok Bajaj said “The rail link is extremely vital to join the two strategically located border districts of Ferozepur and Amritsar.” It will also be a boon for farmers who will be able to send vegetables and fruits to the markets in Mumbai and other areas within two-three days. The project would also ease the movement of troops in this border region, Bajaj said.