Qadian-Beas track ‘unfreezed’, work to commence soon

The Railways has decided to restart work on the 40-km Qadian-Beas rail track, with Minister of State Ravneet Bittu ordering officials to “unfreeze” the railway line which was earlier put in the “freeze” category following technical issues relating to alignment, land acquisition and “petty politicking”.

The Tribune had highlighted this issue on November 10.

In the Railways parlance, “freezing” means a project is relegated to the files after officials fail to make headway due to a variety of reasons. “Unfreezing” means restarting work after resolving all contentious issues. Bittu said the Railways ministry had taken cognisance of The Tribune report and decided to look into the matter.

“I knew the importance of the project. Hence, I asked the officials concerned to remove all impediments and restart construction work,” he said.

“The Railway Board desires that the Qadian-Beas line should now be unfreezed and the detailed estimate should be re-submitted and sanctioned at the earliest so that construction can be taken up,” reads the letter of the Chief Administrative Officer (Construction), Northern Railway.

The track was planned and sanctioned in 1929 by the British government. The line was to be constructed by the North-Western railway. However, in 1932, the project was halted after nearly 33 per cent of the track had been completed.

Leader of Opposition, Partap Singh Bajwa, during his first term as parliamentarian, convinced the then Railways Minister Mamta Banerjee to take up the venture on a priority. The Railways put the project in the category of “socially desirable projects”. Consequently, it was included in the 2010 Railway Budget. However, the Planning Commission flagged some financial issues, following which things came to a halt.