South Central Railway (SCR) General Manager MS Jayanth held a meeting on Wednesday at Rail Nilayam with senior government officers to expedite railway projects in the State.
The meeting was attended by Principal Transport Secretary SP Singh, Chief Commissioner Land Acquisitions Vidyasagar, Roads and Buildings Principal Secretary Lakshmi Parthasaradhi and other senior officials from GHMC, HMDA, municipal administration, forest department, irrigation department and APTransco from the government's side, and principal heads of departments from South Central Railways' side.
This meeting was a follow-up to the
meeting held by Chief Minister K Rosaiah and Minister Of State For Railways KH Muniyappa on September 27th, with the senior officers of SCR and the State government to expedite railway projects.
Jayanth welcomed the galaxy of government officers and appreciated their cooperation in expediting railway projects.
Jayanth said that an unprecedented budget had been granted for railway projects in Andhra Pradesh and in order to spend the amount judiciously, it was necessary to get clearances and land at a very fast pace.
SP Singh assured the SCR that the State had started reviewing and monitoring all the railway projects at the highest level. He said that Rosaiah had directed that highest priority should be given to completion of the railway projects and ensured that all clearances required would be given in the shortest possible time to expedite the project work.
From the Railways' side, a comprehensive presentation was made by Principal Chief Engineer Pradeep Kumar, and Chief Administrative Officer/Construction SK Sharma, detailing the assistance required for all the ongoing projects.
The SCR also asked the government to earmark land for the requirement of future passenger and freight terminals in different directions around the twin cities to cater to the rise in traffic.
Terminals suggested by railways for passengers were Moulali, Medchal, Hitec-City and Shamshabad, and suggested terminals for freight were Timmapur, Nagulapalli-Vikarabad and Bibinagar-Bhongir.
Jayanth said that those were suggested locations, but the government might vary the locations based on their master plan.
SP Singh stated that the master plan for the peripheries of Greater Hyderabad was under preparation and the railway officers should get actively involved in the evolution of the plan so that rail traffic was also catered to for the future.
Regarding the
road-widening of the Sangeeth-Tarnaka stretch, it was agreed by railways that 5 railway buildings which were to be demolished would be handed over immediately to GHMC.
GHMC also expressed their willingness to make the necessary payment of compensation to railways as per a specified time schedule. They requested railways to draw up a detailed payment schedule for all the projects within twin cities.
Railways offered to share their expertise in widening the Rail Nilayam and Allugaddabavi RUBs.
The meeting was one of the first of its kind with such a large attendance from all the departments involved. Several issues were cleared across the table. It was decided that periodic meetings would be held at the highest level to put all the railway projects on fast track.
Courtesy: INN