Rlys blames state for delay in Ferozepur-Patti project

Anirudh Gupta
Ferozepur, September 6

The railway authorities have put the onus for the inordinate delay in providing land for the construction of the “crucial” 25.47-km Ferozepur-Patti rail link on the state government. The rail link has the potential to shorten the distance between the northern states, including Punjab, to the trade capitals of Gujrat and Maharashtra to a large extent.

In his latest communiqué addressed to Amritsar MP Gurjeet Singh Aujla, Union Railway Minister Piyush Goyal stated that the work to construct the new rail line between Ferozepur and Patti (Mallwanwala – Ghalaya) had already been sanctioned by the Ministry of Railways in 2017, on which an estimated cost of Rs 299.74 crore would be incurred. The minister said, however, as per its commitment, the state government had still not provided land for laying the rail line, requirement for which had been sent several times. As per information, around 70.1 hectare land was required in Ferozepur district, whereas 95.68 hectare was needed in Tarn Taran to construct the rail line.

Rajesh Aggarwal, DRM, Ferozepur Division, said the matter had already been taken up with the state government to expedite the process of acquiring land for the project.

Sources said though both the deputy commissioners had started the process for land acquisition, the process had not yet been completed. Earlier, BJP Rajya Sabha MP Shwait Malik had demanded immediate start of the work. Malik had accused the high-profile transport lobby of trying to jeopardise the project due to their vested interests.

This rail link, when constructed, would reduce the distance between Ferozepur and Amritsar from 118 km to 86 km, besides shortening the distance between Amritsar and Mumbai by 240 km.

As per information, this link (Ferozepur-Amritsar) was snapped at the time of partition when the province of Punjab was divided, following which a small portion from Ganda Singh Wala (now in Kasur) up to Khem Karan fell into the share of Pakistan, for which an alternative portion (Ferozepur–Patti) needed to be built.

Former Railway Minister Pawan Bansal had given “green signal” to this project in the Rail Budget of 2013, however, notwithstanding a go ahead by the ministry, it remains a distant dream.